ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) Tuesday finalised a draft of MoU for signing to enhance bilateral cooperation for exchange of information capacity building enhancement. Acting NAB Chairman Sohail Nasser held a meeting with Director General NCA Graeme Biggar CBE at the NAB Headquarters.
The NCA delegation included Graham Rer, Councillor/Regional Head; Owen Kennedy, Staff Officer to Director General NCA; Paul Hamilton Tweedale, Liaison Officer NCA; and Mitchell Tipp, Liaison Officer NCA.
Senior officials from NAB, including Ghulam Safdar Shah, DG Operations; Muhammad Tahir, Director ICW; and Usman Karim Khan, were also present in the meeting.
Nasser lauded the mutual response and cooperation extended by NCA in finalizing the MoU draft.
He assured that the NAB was committed to completing all necessary legal formalities at the earliest to undergo this important agreement.
He emphasized the existing strong cooperation and synergy between NAB and the UK’s anti-corruption agencies, which was currently based on both formal and informal channels for information exchange.
However, he stressed that the proposed MoU will be a significant milestone in further strengthening the mutual anti-corruption efforts between the two countries.
The MoU, which is yet to be signed, is expected to enhance timely cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of both nations, laying the foundation for swift recovery of stolen assets and addressing corruption cases in a befitting manner.
Both parties agreed on the critical need to increase informal exchanges of intelligence and information related to corruption, financial crimes, money laundering, and complex fraud, especially in the current global climate.
In line with the NAB’s commitment to internal capacity building, Nasser introduced the NCA delegation to the NAB’s newly established Pakistan Anti-Corruption Academy (PACA).
The NCA delegation expressed interest in ensuring the participation of the NAB officers in upcoming training programs related to cryptocurrency, which is expected to play a significant role in combating financial crimes.
