The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) says Namibia is making frantic efforts to fully comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) regulations to avoid it being grey listed.
This comes after a report from the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) found that Namibia was not in line with some global best practices when it comes to AML and CFT regulations related to the legal framework and the successful prosecution of financial crimes.
Non-compliance could result in Namibia being grey listed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which could have significant consequences for the country’s financial system. Reputational harm could reduce foreign direct investment, impact capital flows and increase due diligence costs.
“The FIC assures stakeholders that addressing findings raised in the Mutual Evaluation remains a top priority for the government,” said FIC Acting Director Kristian Hamutenya.
“All public and private sector stakeholders are under strict commitment and instruction to do everything possible to expedite the implementation of the Cabinet-approved National Action Plan.”
The report concluded that Namibia was compliant with one recommendation and largely compliant with five, but was partially compliant with 11 and non-compliant with 29. Namibia was given a year to close all findings to avoid a targeted FATF review.
Neighboring South Africa is also working to improve its compliance, after being flagged for key weaknesses in its financial regulations that could also result in being grey listed.
The report analyzed Namibia’s AML/CFT system and provided recommendations on how the system could be strengthened.
The Mutual Evaluation found that Namibia was compliant or largely compliant with none of the 16 Core and Key Recommendations.
