The Anti Money Laundering Bill has been passed by Parliament.
The Bill when assented to by the President is expected to plug the holes in the existing anti-money laundering regulatory framework and make it more responsive to international standards.
Earlier this year, the EU Commission listed Ghana among 12 countries which now pose significant threats to the EU’s financial system.
This has been attributed to the deficiencies in Ghana’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing strategy.
Speaking to journalists in Parliament after the Bill was passed on Thursday (December 17, 2020), Chairman of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Mark Assibey- Yeboah said trusted security agencies will work together to augment the government’s efforts.
“If you’ve heard that a new anti-money laundering Bill has been passed, it is to strengthen the existing law and also to protect the country from money laundering. The FIC in conjunction with the national security, EOCO and the National Intelligence Bureau are the agencies empowered to deal with such matters”, he said.
Mr. Assibey-Yeboah said, after the President endorses it, the revised law will help de-list Ghana from the EU’s money-laundering grey list.
“We hope the international community and the EU Commission will pay attention, so that we are taken off the grey list. There’s the white list, the grey and if you are not careful, you are blacklisted. So we didn’t want to slide onto the blacklist. So now having passed this, when the President assents to this law, then we would be taken off the grey-list”, he added.
