BBC News | Investigating Al-Qaeda

Many countries are finding their financial oversight is badly in need of an overhaul. In the wake of 11 September, it's vital to prove that your banks are checking up on their customers, as new, tougher laws are introduced, so as to avoid the cost of being stigmatised as a haven for money laundering.

A number of Middle Eastern countries, for instance, are introducing financial intelligence units (FIUs), for the first time prosecuting money launderers and sharing information with outsiders.

After concerted lobbying and some threats by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, islands in the Pacific and Caribbean are signing up to information exchange and transparency rules too, trying to wipe away their traditional "tax haven" stigma. But there remains a lack of experience - and it is difficult to know how long it will take them to catch up.

Some national regulators
Financial Services Authority (UK); Financial Supervisory Agency (Japan); Government Shareholdings Directorate (Bahrain); Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency; Securities Exchange of Barbados; Ministry of Budget Management Investment and Public Utilities (Belize); Swiss Federal Banking Commission

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