Member States to share experiences, challenges in money laundering & terrorist financing

By Lamin Jahateh, Banjul The Inter-Government Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) in collaboration with the Federal Government of Nigeria will hold its 14th Technical Commission /Plenary meeting from the 7th-9th December, 2010 at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria. The event will offer an opportunity for Member States to come together to share their experiences with respect to the challenges they are facing in implementing effective Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing Terrorism (AML/CFT) measures.  Plenary meetings are thus an integral part of GIABA’s efforts at fostering regional integration in ECOWAS region. The Plenary Meeting is an assembly of experts including representatives of Member States, development partners and observers in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. A key element during the meetings is the consideration and approval of mutual evaluation reports of member States towards assessing their level of compliance to FATF 40+9 Recommendations in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. The Plenary Meeting shall be declared opened by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chairman of GIABA Ministerial Committee, Hon. Muhammed Bello Adoke (SAN) on Wednesday, December 8th, 2010. Also during the meetings, the activity report of GIABA will be presented by the Director General, Dr Abdullahi Shehu. In addition, the Director General will hold a round table discussion with development partners and GIABA National Correspondents amongst others. GIABA as a specialised ECOWAS institution as well as FATF-Styled Regional Body (FSRB) holds twice a year technical commission/ plenary meetings for representatives of Member States to discuss a number of pertinent issues that require concerted and harmonised approach in addressing them.