Major Anti-Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing Reforms Law Before Legislature
The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the Special Budget for Fiscal Year 2021 in the tone of US$342,186,000.
A bill seeking to repeal the Anti-money laundering and Terrorism Act of 2012 to enhance measures to address unlawful financing and strengthen the Liberian financial sector in line with international best practice is before the House of Representatives and the Senate of the 54th Legislature.
The bill entitled, “Anti-money laundering, terrorist financing, preventive measures and proceeds of crime Act, 2021” received its first reading on Tuesday, July 13, and was then forwarded to the joint committee on National Security, Banking & Currency and Judiciary, to report to the Plenary within a week.
According to the communication from President George M. Weah to the House of Representatives and the Senate, the new law will tackle and “Make robust the money laundering and terrorist financing offenses by adding thereto preventive measures such as risk assessment and due diligence, which were not addressed in the 2012 Act.”
The President indicated: “Additionally, it (the amendment law) will strengthen the recovery of proceeds of crime from individuals and institutions that would abuse laws governing the country's financial system.”
The amendment, if approved by both Houses and attested by the President and then printed into handbills, will establish measures on prevention and combating money laundering and terrorist financing, having as objective the protection of natural and legal persons’ legitimate rights.
The amendment in Liberia’s 2012 Anti-money laundering and terrorist financing law is a part of the recommendation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The FATF is an international, intergovernmental body dedicated to combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Established in 1989, the FATF works to align international AML/CFT standards across its 36 current member states by issuing regular guidance to financial authorities. The FATF sets out its approach to AML/CFT in its ‘40 Recommendations’: member-state authorities and financial institutions seeking to understand or find out how to comply with FATF policy should consult the recommendations before implementing them in a manner consistent with domestic legal and financial systems.
Chiefly, to comply with United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, the FATF makes several recommendations that member states implement targeted financial sanctions against persons or entities that pose terrorism financing risks, or that engage in the proliferation and financing of weapons of mass destruction. The UNSC resolutions require that countries freeze the funds and assets of those persons and entities immediately and that no further funds or assets be made available. FATF member-states produce and issue sanctions lists that financial institutions can consult prior to establishing business relationships with clients that might pose a risk.