The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) says the filing of Beneficial Ownership Information with the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA) is a key requirement for Namibia’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) greylist.
According to FIC Director Bryan Eiseb, this measure aims to enhance transparency in company ownership and prevent financial crimes such as money laundering and illicit financial flows.
“The timely filing of Beneficial Ownership Information with BIPA will enhance Namibia’s chances of an enhanced rating by the FATF in May 2025,” he said.
He further explained that Namibia continues to make progress in addressing the strategic deficiencies identified in its Financial Action Task Force Action Plan, a crucial step toward exiting the grey list by May 2026.
At the FATF Plenary Meeting held in Paris on 21 February 2025, Namibia’s second Progress Report was reviewed, confirming that the country has largely addressed four of the 13 action items required for compliance.
Most remaining deficiencies have been partially addressed, except for one that remains unresolved.
“In this regard, the country’s Progress Report adopted by the FATF on 21 February indicates that Namibia has largely addressed four action items, partially addressed the remaining action items except for one action item that has not yet been addressed,” he said.
Eiseb also said that Namibia has demonstrated its commitment to financial compliance by hosting the FATF Joint Group meeting in Windhoek from 6-10 January 2025.
The National Coordinating Committee, led by the Financial Intelligence Centre, continues to update the Cabinet on progress, reinforcing the country’s determination to exit the grey list as soon as possible.
“The National Coordinating Committee, led by the Financial Intelligence Centre is determined to exit the “greylisting” as soon as possible and have been reporting regularly to the Cabinet on the progress made in this regard,” Eiseb said.
The FATF added Namibia to its list of jurisdictions under enhanced monitoring, commonly known as the greylist on 23 February 2024.
The greylist contains countries with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing frameworks.
