Reserve Bank of Malawi pushes for Financial Crime Act
The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has urged parliamentarians to pass the Financial Crime Act in a bid to reduce suspected cases of money laundering.
RBM officials made the appeal during an interface meeting they had with the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament on Thursday, last week.
The Financial Crime Act will among others give mandate to the authorities to monitor the amount of money Malawians are supposed to withdraw from banks, nevertheless reduce cases of money laundering.
RBM governor Charles Chuka said that the Act is supposed to be tabled in the just commenced sitting of the Mid-Term-Budget Review.
“It is not only Malawi which will face such challenges if the bill is not passed, but other countries too, hence the need for the law makers to pass it,” he said.
Chuka further stated that the Act was presented in Parliament in 2013 but has not been considered in all meetings since then.
Members of Parliament raised a concern that the Central Bank officials are in a hurry and that as MPs they need much time to look into the matter and scrutinise it well for the bill to be tabled in Parliament.
Chairperson for the Legal Affairs Committee Maxwell Thyolera said the matter is yet to be debated by the committee and see if they are to table it in Parliament or not.
Recently, Thyolera told the media that an international protocol, government signed demands that Malawi should pass the bill by February 15 2017.
