The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat has stepped up the Region’s resolve to fight money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation finance.
There is a common dislike to money laundering, terrorism finance and proliferation finance in SADC and Member States have committed themselves, through the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group of countries (ESAAMLG), to take effective measures against the vices.
It is against this background that SADC convened a Validation Workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 21st March to 24th March 2023 to discuss ways to facilitate the convergence of the anti-money laundering and combatting financing of terrorism policies, laws and regulatory practices in Member States, with the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Participants deliberated on ways to support effective and proportional action against money laundering and the financing of terrorism in Region.
The specific objective of the workshop, which was backed by the European Union (EU) supported Support to Investment and Business Environment Enhancement Programme (SIBE), was to undertake an assessment on the implementation of FATF recommendations to ensure effective and proportionate measures against money laundering in SADC Member States. It assessed the capacities of national authorities to combat money laundering and terrorist financing and proliferation financial structures and the capacity building programme for national authorities.
The workshop also assessed whether the level of risk to the implementation of the FATF recommendations to ensure effective and proportionate measures against money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing in the SADC Region are equal with money laundering and terrorism financing risks. Participants deliberated on the capacities of national authorities to combat money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing structures and the capacity-building programme for national authorities.
In his welcome remarks, Mr John Muamba, emphasised the need to deliberate on and find measures to ensure there are effective ways to combat terrorism financing, money laundering and proliferation financing in the Region. He thanked SADC Secretariat for putting together a team that would ensure implementation of the FATF recommendations so as to ensure that the financial crimes do not affect the Region.
The SADC Region, he said, must not be seen as weak and vulnerable to money laundering, financing terrorism and proliferation finance.
The workshop was anchored on Annex 12 of the SADC Protocol on Finance and Investment. The Protocol foresees compliance of all SADC Member States with the FATF recommendations in line with set guidelines. SADC seeks to ensure that there is convergence of laws to combat money laundering, proliferation and terrorism finance, and regulatory practices of State Parties.
Background
FATF leads global action to tackle money laundering, terrorism and proliferation financing. Its purpose is to establish international standards and to develop and promote policies, both at national and international levels, to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. FATF recommendations set out a comprehensive and consistent framework of measures which countries should implement in order to combat money laundering and terrorist financing as well as the enhancing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. FATF Recommendation 7 requires countries to implement targeted financial sanctions to comply with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) relating to the prevention, suppression and disruption of proliferation of weapons of mass destructions (WMD) and its financing.
Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. Terrorist financing is the raising of money involving the solicitation, collection or provision of funds, with the intention that it may be used to support terrorist acts, terrorists or terrorist organisations. Proliferation financing is defined by the FATF as the provision of funds or financial services used for the manufacture, acquisition, possession, development, export, trans-shipment, brokering, transport, transfer, stockpiling or use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery and related.
