THE KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN’S NATIONAL RISK ASSESSMENT 2025

44 206. Bahrain has adopted a regularly updated national counter-terrorism strategy, which is shared with all relevant authorities and formally approved by the Ministerial Committee for Combating Extremism, Terrorism, and its Financing and Money Laundering, chaired by His Excellency the Minister of Interior. Within this framework, the National DesignationWorking Group, operating under the Secretariat of the Committee, plays a central role in monitoring and reviewing the designation of individuals and entities for inclusion on the national terrorist list. These designations, once finalized, are submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers for approval, representing a proactive measure to mitigate terrorism financing risks. 207. In addition, ad-hoc meetings are convened as needed to address emerging issues related to terrorism and its financing. Pursuant to Royal Decree No. (50) of 2020, which established the Committee for Combating Extremism, Terrorism, and its Financing and Money Laundering, the Minister of Interior issued Ministerial Resolution No. (107) of 2025 Anti-Terrorism Task Force under the Committee. This Task Force strengthens inter-agency coordination and ensures a more agile and responsive framework to address terrorism financing threats. 208. The Task Force is mandated with several key responsibilities. These include the proactive exchange and analysis of security and intelligence information related to terrorism and its financing, ensuring the effectiveness of Bahrain’s counter-terrorism framework. It is tasked with identifying and disrupting sources of terrorist funding by tracing and examining financial flows. The Task Force also works to identify internal and external threats in line with the outcomes of the National Risk Assessment (NRA), and to propose strategies for national adoption by the Ministerial Committee for Combating Extremism, Terrorism, and its Financing and Money Laundering. In addition, it is responsible for analysing trends and typologies of terrorist operations, recommending preventive measures, and updating national mechanisms to mitigate terrorism financing risks. Finally, it seeks to unify national efforts by enhancing inter-agency cooperation and conducting joint operations to track and disrupt terrorist activities and their financing. 209. The AML/CFT Committee serves as a central coordinating body with the primary objective of preventing and countering the misuse of Bahrain’s financial system and broader economy for money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation financing (ML/TF/PF) purposes. Its mandate includes preparing recommendations and draft decisions for adoption by the Government of Bahrain, thereby ensuring an aligned national approach to combating financial crime. The Committee provides a forum for the oversight and continuous review of Bahrain’s AML/CFT/ CPF framework and reports directly to the Ministerial Committee, ensuring high-level supervision and accountability. 210. The Kingdom of Bahrain has taken several measures in the FATF’s follow-up process to address the shortcomings mentioned in the MER. The Kingdom of Bahrain issued Decree Law No. (57) of 2018 amending some provisions of Decree Law No. (4) of 2001 regarding prohibiting and combating money laundering and terrorist financing, so that the definition of financing of terrorism corresponds to that of the UN Convention for the of Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. Thus, several legislative amendments were enacted, which resulted in a higher level of compliance, especially in FATF recommendation 5 (rated compliance), in addition to an increase in the effectiveness in law enforcement deterring such crimes. 211. The FATF establishes international standards to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. These standards such as Recommendation 6, which require mandatory immediate freezing of assets