Anti-Money Laundering Law amendment subjects virtual assets to oversight

Confiscation may extend to other assets of the convicted person if the court is satisfied they arise from criminal conduct

Possibility of setting a ceiling for cash payments and mandating electronic payment for certain goods and services

Powers for the Public Prosecutor to conduct an expanded financial investigation into funds inconsistent with lawful income

The draft amendment to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Law for the year 2026 brings virtual assets under a broader scope of oversight for funds and transactions, in parallel with expanding powers to track, seize, freeze, and confiscate funds, and allowing for expanded financial investigation into funds that are inconsistent with the lawful income of the complainant.

According to the draft law published on the Legislation and Opinion Bureau, it introduces a broader system for asset recovery, which extends in specific cases to other assets belonging to the convicted person if the court is convinced that they arise from criminal conduct and their lawful source is not proven.

The draft also opens the way for placing restrictions on cash payments, as it grants the National Committee the authority to recommend measures including proposing to the Council of Ministers to restrict electronic payment for certain goods and services, or setting a maximum limit for values that may be paid in cash for goods, services, and transactions, without the draft specifying a value for this ceiling.

The draft law, which amends the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Law No. 20 of 2021, includes 29 amendment articles, including the introduction of new concepts and provisions and the amendment of the powers of a number of entities concerned with combating, investigation, and oversight.

- Virtual assets among reporting entities

The draft adds virtual asset service providers to the "reporting entities" subject to the provisions of the law, and to the definition of a customer, in addition to including licensed or regulated virtual asset activities in the Kingdom among the covered activities.

The draft redefines "due diligence measures" to include identifying and verifying information about the customer, the ultimate beneficial owner, the nature of their business, the purpose of the business relationship, and their ownership and control structure, enabling the reporting entity to assess its risk exposure.

It also grants the National Committee for Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing the authority to recommend to the competent authorities the necessary measures to reduce the risks of money laundering, terrorism financing, and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including proposing to the Council of Ministers to restrict electronic payment for certain goods and services or setting a maximum limit for values that may be paid in cash.

- A broader system for asset recovery

The draft introduces the definition of "asset recovery" to include identifying, tracing, evaluating, seizing, freezing, and confiscating criminal property and property of equivalent value, and implementing the resulting decisions, including managing, disposing of, returning, or sharing the property with those who have rights to it.

It also introduces the concept of "criminal property," which includes proceeds of money laundering crimes and predicate offenses, their revenues and benefits, the means used or intended to be used in those crimes, funds subject to money laundering, and funds used or intended to be used or allocated for financing terrorism or terrorist acts or organizations, in addition to the proceeds resulting therefrom.

The concept extends to this property even if it is owned or in the possession of a third party, without prejudice to the rights of good-faith third parties.

- Expanded financial investigation into funds inconsistent with income

The draft grants the Public Prosecutor the authority to conduct an expanded financial investigation, and to identify, track, seize, and freeze any relevant funds for which there is evidence and indications that they arise from criminal conduct and are inconsistent with the lawful income of the suspect.

It also allows for taking measures to identify, track, evaluate, and seize criminal property and property of equivalent value without notifying the suspect and before executing the seizure, while granting the affected party the right to appeal within seven days from the date of knowledge or notification of the execution of the decision.

The draft introduces an article that allows for the extension of confiscation to other assets belonging to the convicted person for which they were not convicted of a money laundering, terrorism financing, or predicate crime, if the court is convinced through the evidence presented that they arise from criminal conduct and no evidence of their legitimacy is provided.

For the purposes of applying this, the draft allows the court to verify the inconsistency of the funds with the lawful income of the convicted person, or their acquisition during a time period close to the commission of an unlawful act, in addition to the convicted person's membership in an organized criminal group according to the definition of international conventions and relevant legislation.

The draft also proposes that the dismissal of a public right case, the suspension of prosecution, exemption from punishment, the shelving of papers, or the issuance of a judgment in absentia shall not prevent the confiscation of criminal property and property of equivalent value, and confiscation in accordance with the provisions of the new article in money laundering, predicate, and terrorism financing crimes, by a judicial decision.

The proposed text grants the good-faith third party the right to appeal the confiscation decision, and allows the Public Prosecution to continue to consider the case and refer it to the competent court for the purposes of confiscation.

The draft expands investigation tools to detect money laundering, predicate, and terrorism financing crimes by allowing the use of undercover operations, interception of communications, access to computer systems, and controlled delivery under a written judicial order issued by the competent authority, unless special laws provide otherwise.

- Regulation of trusts and legal arrangements

The draft introduces a definition for "legal arrangements" as the relationship that arises under a contract between two or more parties and does not result in the creation of a legal entity, such as trusts or any similar arrangement, while trusts are defined as a legal relationship under which the settlor places funds under the control of a trustee for the benefit of a beneficiary or for a specific purpose.

The draft adds an article that refers the conditions and transparency requirements for trusts and legal arrangements to a regulation issued for this purpose, and defines the obligations of trusts, trustees, and the entity responsible for monitoring compliance.

The draft imposes a fine of no less than two thousand dinars and no more than 20 thousand dinars, or imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year, or both penalties, for violating the provisions of the regulation.

- Risk-based oversight for non-profit organizations

The draft establishes a framework for non-profit organizations, defining them as a legal person, arrangement, or organization that operates primarily to collect or spend funds for charitable, religious, cultural, educational, social, solidarity, or other charitable purposes.

It identifies the supervisory and regulatory bodies responsible for preventing terrorism financing risks, including the Societies Registry for societies registered therein, and the Companies Control Department for companies that do not aim to achieve profit.

These entities shall assess the terrorism financing risks to which organizations are exposed, develop focused and proportionate measures to address them according to a risk-based approach, review them periodically, and supervise compliance with them.

The draft obligates non-profit organizations and persons acting on their behalf or for their benefit to apply risk-based measures, ultimate beneficial owner disclosure procedures, and other necessary measures to limit their exploitation in illicit operations.

- Expanding the membership of the National Committee

The draft proposes expanding the membership of the National Committee for Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing by adding the Secretary-General of the Judicial Council, the Amman Public Prosecutor, the Public Prosecutor at the State Security Court, the President or a commissioner from the Board of Commissioners of the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission, and the Director of the Preventive Security Department.

It expands the committee's tasks to include drawing up the general policy for combating money laundering, terrorism financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, developing and regularly reviewing strategies, and adopting implementation plans in light of the risks identified in the Kingdom. It also allows it to delegate any of its powers to its chairman, provided that the delegation is written and specific.

The draft proposes granting the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Unit a legal personality and financial and administrative independence, while remaining linked to the Governor of the Central Bank, and granting it the right to own, dispose of, contract, and litigate.

It also exempts the unit from all government taxes and fees, including the general sales tax and import stamp duties, and regulates its access to databases at competent authorities under memoranda of understanding, with rules for governance, information security, and access controls and powers.

- Suspending transactions for up to 10 days

The draft allows the unit to obligate reporting entities to suspend all procedures and transactions underway on the operation that was notified or reported, or for which a request was received from a counterpart entity, for a period not exceeding five working days, renewable for a similar period if necessary.

It also allows the unit to request the same action from counterpart units or competent authorities in other countries.

The draft expands the scope of information exchange within groups by replacing the reference to financial institutions with the concept of "reporting entities."

It also obligates competent authorities to receive information and analyses from the unit, follow up on them, collect relevant evidence, and provide feedback, and allows reliance on the unit's analyses in investigations in accordance with applicable legislation.

It allows the court to request technical clarifications from the report preparer using modern means of communication, while maintaining the confidentiality of information and its source in accordance with the proposed provisions.

- Tracking funds linked to foreign investigations

The draft expands international cooperation in asset recovery to include identifying, tracing, evaluating, freezing, and seizing criminal assets and assets of equivalent value, and allows for the exchange of information related to them, either automatically or upon request.

It also allows for the automatic initiation of identifying and tracing assets located in the Kingdom when there is information indicating their connection to a foreign investigation, in accordance with applicable legislation.

The draft designates the Ministry of Justice as the central authority in the Kingdom for receiving and sending requests for mutual legal assistance and other international cooperation requests, and for taking the necessary measures to facilitate and expedite their implementation and inform the requesting party of the status of the request.

It authorizes the Public Prosecution, through the Ministry of Justice, to cooperate with non-Jordanian entities in asset recovery requests, and also allows competent authorities to participate in multilateral networks and global asset recovery networks.