Ghana has finally been taken off the European Union’s (EU) Anti-Money Laundering (AML) list.
Ghana’s removal from the list was announced by the EU’s Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday, June 25, 2021.
The FATF in a statement said it welcomes the significant progress by Ghana in improving its AML/CFT regime, asserting the country has strengthened the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime.
Adding Ghana has adequately addressed all related technical deficiencies to meet the commitments in its action plan regarding the strategic deficiencies that the FATF identified in October 2018.
“Ghana is therefore no longer subject to the FATF’s increased monitoring process. Ghana will continue to work with GIABA to improve further its AML/CFT regime,” noted the FATF.
Background
Ghana was last year added to a list of 12 countries with weak or deficiencies in Anti Money Laundering and Terrorism financing laws by the EU.
The list published on May 7, 2020, by the EU also included the Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Panama and Zimbabwe.
According to the EU, the weakness identified in the listed countries possess a serious risk to their financial system hence the action.
Ghana’s Finance Ministry following the country’s inclusion to the list, described the action as surprising and unfortunate, especially when government asserted that they had already taken steps to address all the issues identified by the FATF.
