FIA eyes Financial Crimes Act amendment
The Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) has made a move to review the Financial Crimes Act to seal loopholes identified in the Act.
The Act deals with issues related to money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
FIA spokesperson Masautso Ebere cited non-criminalisation of the offence of terrorism as one of the loopholes in the current Act.
He added that there were other gaps outside the Financial Crimes Act, citing the prevention of terrorism financing through non-governmental organisations as one of the issues.
“The need to amend the Act has been necessitated by findings of an evaluation done by the Eastern and Southern African Anti- Money Laundering [Association] in 2018, which revealed the gaps,” he said.
“So, we have been advised by the Ministry of Justice to come up with regulations from the Financial Crimes Act so that they speak to the main law,” he added.
The Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament has since welcomed to proposal to amend the Act so as to give “more powers” to FIA to fight money laundering and terrorism.
Chairperson for the committee Peter Dimba said, at their meeting with FIA officials in Lilongwe last week, they appreciated efforts being made by the authority as well as gaps that had to be filled.
“We, as members of Parliament, appreciate reasons for seeking to amend the Financial Crimes Act,” he said.
Last week, FIA officials, in collaboration with Basel Institute on Governance and the National Democratic Institute, engaged lawmakers on money laundering, terrorism financing and other issues.
Mathews Kasanda is a journalist who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from University of Malawi (The Polytechnic).
In 2015, Media Institute of Southern Africa awarded him the Best Print Media Education Journalist of the Year accolade.
He joined Times Group Newsroom in September 2019.
