At its plenary, the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force outlined strategic priorities under the presidency, framing the region’s response to organised crime, fraud and cyber threats around faster, more flexible and more proactive action. The work programme centers on strengthening the presidency framework, advancing institutional development and tracking the third round of mutual evaluations. The third round of mutual evaluations began last year, and five countries are currently at different stages of that process. MENAFATF also launched its first forum for research and training centres as part of the plenary, bringing the academic sector into its regional work on combating financial crimes.