Parliamentarians in Namibia are ironing out 13 financial amendment bills set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to avoid grey listing.
Members of the National Council and various stakeholders are converged in Swakopmund to iron out the bills set by FATF, an international watchdog that assesses countries on how their policies are effective to curb anti-money laundering, combatting the financing of terrorism, and proliferation financing framework.
Namibia was given 12 months to make amendments and propose two new legislations, of which the first draft is expected to be submitted at the end of this month, while the review will be undertaken in September. The country will hear its fate around February 2024.
“We are gathered here this week in order to be taken through the summary explanations of the proposed amendments and new bills that were identified after the grey-listing of Namibia, following the 2021/2022 peer review outcome that highlighted certain areas where critical reforms must be effected. The situation we found ourselves cannot be delayed and is unavoidable,” National Council Chairperson Lukas Muha said.
Muha said lawmakers are expected to make the necessary amendments to some existing laws and if possible, craft new ones.
“It is important to note that we are living in the globalisation era that is so interdependent in almost all aspects of life. This interdependency has advantages and disadvantages. For instance, businesses and individuals in one country can buy and sell or exchange currency in another country by a click of a button,” he said.
The MP said these scenarios are a signal that global financial markets are more integrated than they have been before.
“It is worth noting that interdependency and integration carries risks to both individuals, businesses, investors and states. It has influence over global security and international trade relations; and the way state, business and individuals deal with financial markets,” he warns.
He further cautions that an economic crisis in one state can quickly spread to other states, a situation he says if it is left to spread can lead to economic difficulties that can also lead to a global economic crisis.
“The emphasis here is that we need to make laws that are relevant to the current changing financial market environment both locally and globally. We have to move with speed in order to comply and beat the politics of the world monetary system,” Muha said.
Among the bills being reviewed are the Banking Institutions, Close Corporation Act, Companies Act, Criminal Procedure Act, Extradition Act, Financial Intelligence Act, ICCMA amendment, PACOTPAA prevention and combating, Payment System Management, POCA, Police Act, Trust Administration and Virtual Assets and Initial Toek offerings.
