Liberia’s Money Laundering Risks Are High
Edwin W. Harris, Director General, Financial Intelligence Unit of Liberia
-- FIU discloses at release of Liberia’s National Risk Assessment Report
The Financial Intelligence Unit of Liberia (FIU) has announced the completion and publication of Liberia’s National Risk Assessment Report on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing.
According to Edwin W. Harris, Director General of the FIU, the completed National Risk Assessment Report is the first of its kind in Liberia and is poised to provide stakeholders and the world with the risks Liberia faces when it comes to money laundering and terrorist financing.
“The major outcomes of the NRA portray Liberia’s money laundering risks as high in the Financial Sector as well as the Designated Non-Financial Business Professionals (DNFBPs).”
He noted that the National Risk Assessment Report also reveals that Liberia’s terrorist financing risk is low.
“With the completion and publication of the National Risk Assessment Report on money laundering and terrorist financing, the Financial Intelligence Unit of Liberia will launch an Anti-Money Laundering Policy, Strategy and Action Plan on mitigating the risks about money laundering in Liberia,” the FIU Director-General disclosed on Tuesday, September 28, 2021, at a press conference.
He continued: as mandated under Recommendation One of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), 40-plus Recommendations that countries should identify and understand their risks, the FIU will distribute over 300 hard copies of the National Risk Assessment Report to all stakeholders and partners in October 2021.
“Financial Institutions and Designated Non-Financial Business Professionals (DNFBPs) will be required to use the National Risk Assessment Report on money laundering and terrorist financing as a guide in mitigating the risks to money laundering in their respective sectors.”
Mr. Harris further elaborated that the Liberia Working Group on the Second Round of Mutual Evaluation will host a series of activities to include Focus Group discussions, Town Hall meetings, and Outreach to all stakeholders in the Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Regime in Liberia. Meanwhile, the National Risk Assessment Report on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing can be downloaded on key websites in the country, including that of the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Central Bank of Liberia, the Liberia Revenue Authority, The Executive Mansion (emansion.gov.lr), the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI), the General Auditing Commission, amongst other websites in the country.