Authorities are hoping to keep Malawi out of the grey list on money laundering and terrorism financing to ensure continued seamless transactions between local and foreign financial institutions.
Being ‘grey listed’ is a term used in the context of financial regulation and international efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
A country is placed on the ‘grey list’ when it is considered to have strategic deficiencies in its systems for countering money laundering and terrorist financing, but has committed to resolving these issues quickly.
This follows Malawi’s participation at the just-ended 24th Council of Ministers and the 48th Task Force of Senior Officials under the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) in Diani, Kenya.
In an interview, Minister of Finance Simplex Chithyola Banda said the conference was insightful and the government plans to strengthen Malawi’s systems and laws.
“It is so interesting to note that we are amongst the good performers here. There are some areas that we haven’t done well in but there are many areas that we’ve done well in,” Chithyola Banda said.
ESAAMLG outgoing president, who is also Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning (Minister of Finance), John Mbadi said while governments are increasingly focused on deploying advanced tools and modern technologies to combat terrorist threats, it is essential to invest in understanding how these threats are financed.
“Data on the jurisdictions on the ICRG list, however, seems to indicate a different picture. I believe that we have it within us to analyse and diagnose what is ailing the AML/ CFT/CPF regimes in the region,” Mbadi said.
The ESAAMLG is a regional body subscribing to global standards to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism and proliferation.
It has 21 member countries including Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, eSwatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The group also has regional and international observers such as Commonwealth Secretariat, East African Community, FATF, IMF, Sadc, United Kingdom, United States of America, UNODC, World Bank and World Customs Organisation.
