KUWAIT: The future seems dark for money launderers, headed by famous people on social media who were used for this purpose, because supervision and accountability will be toughened. Informed sources told Al-Qabas that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is planning to reorganize online sales and auctions, in addition to ads by popular social media personalities to promote certain products.

Sources said the commerce ministry is contemplating the introduction of new commercial licenses for online trade - be it for selling or promoting products or auctioning watches, jewelry, gems, cars, etc, all the way to home businesses that sell food or accessories. The said the proposed online licenses will be similar to regular licenses and can be issued to one person and do not need a premises, such as those for small businesses.

The sources said the commerce ministry seeks to combat money laundering operations that are done online via social media personalities - a practice that hurts the economy. Moreover, the organization of online marketplaces has become an important demand as selling products and promoting them is the future of trade, which may be a good source of revenue for the government.