Amman, Sept. 23 (Petra) - The Legislation and Opinion Bureau published the draft 2026 Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Law (AML/CTF) on its website on Wednesday, introducing amendments to 29 articles of Law No. 20 of 2021 to strengthen oversight, track illegal assets, and modernize investigative frameworks.
The proposed legislation expands regulatory oversight to virtual assets and crypto service providers, adding them to the list of reporting entities subject to customer due diligence and risk assessment mandates.
It grants powers to establish restrictions on cash payments, allowing the National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing to recommend capping cash transactions or mandating electronic payments for specific goods and services through Cabinet approval.
Primary provisions establish a comprehensive asset recovery framework that empowers public prosecutors to conduct expanded financial investigations, trace illicit funds, and freeze assets, including properties whose values fail to match a suspect’s legitimate income, without prior notice.
Courts would gain authority to order the confiscation of unexplained wealth linked to criminal behavior, even if a formal conviction for money laundering or terrorism financing has not been secured on those specific assets.
The draft law permits specialized investigative techniques such as undercover operations, wiretapping, system intercepts, and controlled deliveries under written judicial orders.
It legally defines express trusts and non-profit organizations, subjecting them to strict beneficial-ownership transparency rules and risk-based supervision to prevent terrorist financing abuses.
Administratively, the draft expands the Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Committee to include judicial and anti-corruption officials, while granting the Financial Intelligence Unit legal personality and financial independence linked to the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ).
The FIU will have enhanced powers to temporarily halt suspicious transactions, access national databases through formal memoranda of understanding, and facilitate international asset recovery efforts.
The Ministry of Justice is designated as the central authority for processing mutual legal assistance and cross-border cooperation requests, enabling Jordan to participate in global asset-recovery networks and combat international financial crime.
//Petra// HA
