Second Deputy Governor warns of persistent threats from money laundering and terrorism financing activities
Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Elsie Awadzi-Addo, addressing attendees at the Pre-assessment Workshop and Launch of the National Risk Assessment Exercise for Ghana on Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing, and Financing the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Accra on Tuesday, February 13, 2024, underscored the enduring menace posed by Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing, and Proliferation Financing (ML/FT/PF) activities in the country and West African sub-region.
She emphasized their grave implications for financial stability, economic growth, and the erosion of trust in Ghana’s financial apparatus.
According to her, Ghana continues to position itself as a leader in the quest for good governance in the region, as well as the gateway to Africa, as evidenced by its status as host of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, hence safeguarding the country’s financial system and economy from ML/FT/PF threats, therefore, remains an important goal for all stakeholders.
The upcoming National Risk Assessment (NRA) exercise assumes critical importance as a precursor to Ghana’s third Round Mutual Evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2025. The NRA, in alignment with FATF directives, aims to comprehensively identify, assess, and understand ML/FT/PF risks to fortify Ghana’s defenses against financial crimes.
Speaking further at the launch National Risk Assessment (NRA) exercise, the Second Dep. Governor recounted Ghana’s past Mutual Evaluation in 2016, which exposed significant inadequacies in the nation’s AML/CFT/PF regime, resulting in its grey-listing by FATF until 2020.
This designation precipitated restrictive measures by EU and UK authorities, exerting substantial reputational and economic costs on Ghana. However, through steadfast reforms spanning policy, legislative, regulatory, and administrative realms, Ghana successfully restored its standing with FATF, EU, and UK authorities.
“As we proceed to the Third Round of the mutual evaluation process next year, therefore, it is imperative that we sustain the fruits of the hard work exerted by all stakeholders that led to critical reforms and implementation that persuaded FATF, the EU, and the UK to remove Ghana from any adverse listings for ML/CFT/PF risks. All stakeholders must continue to work to maintain an effective AML/CFT/PF regime that stands the test of time.
“This NRA presents us a rare opportunity to critically self-assess, taking into account the evolution of our financial system and all key sectors of our economy and how business is being conducted since the last assessment, as well as relevant external factors, and to critically assess whether our AML/CFT/PF regime after all the recent reforms remains robust in the face of these developments,” she quipped.
The narrative of Ghana’s redemption from the grey-list underscores the transformative potential of robust reforms in mitigating reputational and economic risks linked to ML/FT/PF activities. Mrs Awadzi-Addo’s discourse underscores Ghana’s unwavering commitment to combat financial crimes and foster a resilient and credible financial ecosystem in pursuit of sustained economic prosperity.
