In October 2020, the FATF identified new countries with strategic anti-money laundering or counter financing of terrorism deficiencies and prioritised reviewing listed countries with expired or expiring deadline. The FAFT review commenced this year, and it covered the progress made by Albania, Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Uganda and Zimbabwe since October 2020. Following the review, the FATF also identified and added Burkina Faso, the Cayman Islands, Morocco, and Senegal to the jurisdictions or economies under increased monitoring (“grey list”). This meant that these countries have committed to resolve the identified strategic deficiencies quickly within the timeframe and are subjected to increased supervision.
The FATF, however, removed the Bahamas from its grey list because they were implementing its reforms. Two countries, Barbados and Jamaica, chose to postpone their reporting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The FATF, however, welcomed the progress made by these countries in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 and called on the countries mentioned above to complete their action plans swiftly and execute within the agreed timeframe. Regarding countries identified as high- risk jurisdiction, the FATF encouraged countries to adhere to due diligence and the application of countermeasures to protect the international financial from the ongoing malpractices emanating from the government.
The advisory also reminded financial institutions of the status and obligations involving these jurisdictions. The FATF considered the digitalisation of operational agencies, which would enhance the tracking of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing action more robust.
The Role Of The EBII Group
At the EBII Group, we offer comprehensive compliance and financial crime training to unlock Africa’s investment value by providing bespoke training and consultancy around financial compliance and regulation.
EBII’s training programme includes but is not limited to all aspects of AML/CTF, including blockchain and other key trade finance tech developments in recent times, sanctions, anti-bribery and corruption, fraud, conduct and culture, governance, data protection and much more whilst considering COVID and BREXIT impact.
EBII’s offering is interactive and integrates all the required aspects, including transaction, organisation and country culture, whilst bearing in mind international and local standards. EBII offers the most efficient, compliant and cost-effective training programme level currently on the market, ensuring a significant reduction in compliance and financial crime risks. Unlike most competitors, our understanding of the African market and culture ensures that our training programme adapts itself to the specific risk profile of the company it is developed for.
Our recently launched digital platform- Africa Compliance Hub – provides current and relevant information to individuals and organisational members to ensure that they adhere to rules outlined by International regulators. By bridging this information gap, the platform ensures that Africa’s investors are better equipped to conduct their due diligence.
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