The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has established the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing Terrorism (AML/CFT) Committee.
This committee will help SADC Member States align their AML/CFT policies, legislation, and regulatory processes with international standards, notably the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) recommendations.
Ministers of Finance and Investment suggested that this AML/CFT Committee be established to promote effective and proportional action against money laundering and terrorism funding in the region, in accordance with Annex 12 of the Finance and Investment Protocol.
13 member states gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa for three days from February 21-23rd this year to deliberate on the auspicious occasion, where they elected Mr Clement Kapalu, Director General of the Republic of Zambia‘s Financial Intelligence Centre, as the first Chairperson of the SADC AML/CFT Committee.
In his inaugural statement, Mr Kapalu emphasised that the Committee will usher in a new age of combating the infestation of financial vices that impede SADC growth through collaboration and cooperation.
Mrs Debra Port-Louis, Deputy Director, Financial Intelligence Unit, Republic of Seychelles, was chosen Deputy Chairperson.
“The operationalisation of the SADC AML/CFT Committee underscores the commitment of each Member State to collectively enhance measures against regional money laundering and terrorist financing” she went on to say.
The SADC AML/CFT Committee’s Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson will each serve for a two-year term. Voting was performed with a simple majority of the Member States present and on a “one country, one vote” basis.
The SADC AML/CFT Committee is made up of key senior officials from each Member State in charge of AML/CFT affairs.
The SADC Secretariat, in collaboration with the Committee of Central Bank Governors Secretariat (CCBG), the Committee of Insurance, Securities, and Non-Banking Authorities (CISNA) Secretariat, and the ESAAMLG Secretariat, will facilitate, coordinate, and carry out the Secretariat functions of the SADC AML-CFT Committee.
Among other things, the SADC AML-CFT Committee’s terms of reference and work plan for the next two years were reviewed and approved.
The European Union-funded Support to Improving the Investment and Business Environment (SIBE) Programme, which is managed by the SADC Secretariat, provides resources to Member States to help them develop AMLCFT Strategies and Action Plans, as well as other strategic frameworks to address deficiencies.
Nonetheless, the majority of Member States have implemented AML/CFT policies based on FATF guidelines.
