By Catherine Sasman
WINDHOEK
The Anti-money Laundering Advisory Council (AMLAC) yesterday met representatives of the Bank of Namibia (BoN) as the regulator of the banking sector to discuss its role in terms of the Financial Intelligence Act that was gazetted in June.
The regulations of the Act still need to be finalised and can become fully operational, and since the beginning of September accountable institutions and supervisory bodies had the opportunity to review and provide feedback on preliminary draft regulations and exemption notices.
The AMLAC consists of the Governor of the BoN, permanent secretaries of the ministries of Finance, Trade and Industry and Justice, the Inspector-General of the Namibian Police, the Director of the Namibian Central Intelligence Service, the Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission and the President of the Bankers’ Association.
The body advises the Minister of Finance on policies and measures to combat money-laundering activities and other powers entrusted to the Minister.
The council should further maintain a forum at least twice a year where accountable institutions, Government ministries, agencies and supervisory bodies can consult.
“The importance of such a council cannot be overemphasised,” said Governor of the BoN, Tom Alweendo.
“The council is indeed an important organ in the implementation of the anti-money laundering legislation. Money laundering is not only a threat to the global financial sector, but if allowed to flourish, money laundering has the potential to become a threat to the civil and political spheres.”
According to Stuart Yiona of the Financial Market Integrity Unit of the World Bank, money laundering is the process by which proceeds from a criminal activity are disguised to conceal their illicit origin.
Terrorism financing on the other hand, is the financial support, in any form, of terrorism, or those who encourage, plan, or engage in terrorism.
It is important to fight money laundering, said Yiona, because successful money laundering helps make crime profitable.
“Money laundering increases crime and undermines good governance, it compromises financial markets integrity, weakens the economy and private sector development, and complicates the State’s macro-economic policies,” said Yiona.
Namibia is a member country of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) established in 1989 by the G-7 Summit.
The taskforce leads the international fight against money laundering and the fight has now been extended to combat terrorist financing.
The 33-member taskforce consists of eight regional bodies worldwide that assist FATF in its fight against economic crime.
Namibia is a member of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) whose goal is to evaluate whether regional countries comply with their international rules and regulations that aim at combating money laundering.
Moreover, the country is party to the Palermo Convention, and accordingly envisages establishing a Financial Intelligence Centre.
It is envisaged that regulations for the Financial Intelligence Act will be finalised by early next year.