Laws to tighten global anti-money laundering and terrorist financing standards approved by the Cabinet Committee
Namibia approved 11 Amendments and two new Bills that when passed by the legislature, will ensure that the country’s legal framework is fully aligned with new developments in global anti-money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing standards.
Namibia’s Financial Intelligence Center, acting director, Zenobia Barry in a statement Friday said, in so doing, Namibia is registering a positive momentum to address mutual evaluation findings related to its Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation Framework (AML/CFT/CPF).
“To effectively mitigate the risk of a targeted review or greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force, the Cabinet approved a National Action Plan in December 2022, following the adoption of the Namibian Mutual Evaluation Report by the Eastern and Southern African Anti-Money Laundering Group’s Council of Ministers in September 2022,” she added.
According to Barry, the National Action Plan includes the proposed legislative changes and enhanced effectiveness measures by law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to address the findings.
The following Amendments and Bills have been reviewed and approved by the Cabinet Committee on Legislation: ▪ The Financial Intelligence Act, 2012 (Act. No 13 of 2012) amendment; The Prevention and Combating of Organised Crime Act, 2004 (Act No. 29 of 2004) amendment; The Prevention and Combating of Terrorist and Proliferation Activities Act, 2014 (Act No. 4 of 2014) amendment; The Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act No. 51 of 1977) amendment; The Police Act, 1990 (Act No. 19 of 1990) amendment; The Extradition Act, 1996 (Act No. 11 of 1996) amendment; The International Cooperation in Criminal Matters Act, 2000 (Act No. 9 of 2000) amendment; The Companies Act, 2004 (Act No. 28 of 2004) amendment; The Close Corporations Act, 1988 (Act No. 26 of 1988) amendment; The Banking Institutions Act (Act 2 of 1998) amendment; Payment Systems Management Act (Act 18 of 2003) amendment; Trust Administration Bill, new and Virtual Assets and Initial Token Offering Services Bill, new.
Barry meanwhile said the AML/CFT/CPF Council, chaired by the Bank of Namibia governor, Johannes Gawaxab, the Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises, and Namibia’s Prime Minister continues to guide the implementation of the National Action Plan, while both public and private entities within the financial integrity ecosystem are regularly reporting on the progress they are making.
The relevant laws will enjoy priority in the next sitting of parliament for Namibia to meet its international obligations, she concluded.
