Law no. 20/2019 issuing the Law on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing, which repeals law no. 4/2010 was enacted by HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar. The issuance of the Law is part of the State’s plan to update the national legislation in line with the international developments in various fields. The State of Qatar had issued its first AML law in 2002 under law no. 28/2002. In 2010, AML/CFT Law no. 4/2010 was issued and aimed at meeting international standard requirements and ensuring that necessary institutional and operational foundations are well in place to respond effectively to ML/TF threats. Due to the development of international standards and recommendations updated by FATF in 2012, in addition to the issuance of the international assessment methodology in 2013, the State of Qatar updated the said law no. 4 by issuing Law no. 20/2019.
Law no. 20/2019 ensures the establishment by the State of an appropriate system that responds efficiently to money laundering, terrorism financing and predicate offense incidents and threats through the following features:
• Expanding the definition of predicate offences against which money laundering behavior may take place to include all crimes and misdemeanors.
• Switching from the application of customs disclosure whereby the traveler is required to disclose their foreign currency possession, at the request of the customs authorities, to a customs declaration system that obliges all travelers to disclose their foreign currency possession on their own if they reached or exceeded the limit determined by the executive regulations.
• Reinforcing the role of the National Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Committee in a way that enables it to assess the national system and supervise its proper functioning.
• Empowering the Financial Information Unit, the regulatory authorities and the law enforcement agencies to ensure proper implementation of the law and achieve the required effectiveness.
• Strengthening international cooperation mechanisms for all national entities in the field of combating money laundering, terrorism financing and predicate offences.
• Increasing criminal sanctions related to violating the provisions of the law.
AML/CFT Law no 20/2019 is annexed with executive regulations which clarify the executive aspects of the law and may be amended, as required based on local or international developments.

Law no. 20/2019 on issuing the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Law.