GIABA collaborates with partners to fight money laundering, terrorism financing

The Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), in collaboration with the Government of Switzerland and Global Counter Terrorism Forum (GCTF), with the assistance of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, will hold a 3-day training workshop on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) from December 11 to 13, 2012 in Abuja, Nigeria.

The objectives of the workshop are to sensitize and raise the awareness of legal, financial and law enforcement officers from ECOWAS member states and some Maghreb states  on the fight against the scourges of money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) in the two regions.

The 3-day training will focus on the cooperation among border management agencies and relevant authorities in the combating of ML/TF, AML/CFT responsibilities of non-bank financial institutions, and AML/CFT measures targeting cash-based economies and informal routes for money transfer.

The training is expected to enable participants gain practical understanding of the complexities of AML/CFT and the implementation of international AML/CFT standards in order to tackle these threats effectively.

Gambia urged to amend deficient Anti-Money Laundering law

The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (GIABA) has urged the Gambia to amend her Anti-Money Laundering laws with a view to bring it in line with the international standards.

The Gambia’s Anti-Money Laundering Act 2003 is not up to standard as it designated only 13 predicate offences for money laundering.  This falls short of the minimum 20 designated categories under the recommendation of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which is the principal international standard body setting on money laundering and terrorist financing.

Dr Abdullahi Shehu, GIABA DG

The director general of GIABA, Dr Abdullahi Shehu said they are negotiating with the Gambian authorities to make sure that they amend and pass a standard anti-money laundering legislation.  He noted that the negotiation has been fruitful as the Gambian authorities had agreed to amend the law.

“Now we are really working together with them to make sure that the law is amended because where there is no law or where the law is weak, it create a vacuum for criminals to take over,” said Dr Shehu, DG of GIABA - a specialized institution of ECOWAS responsible for the prevention and control of money laundering and terrorist financing in the West African sub-region.

Money laundering situation in Gambia

Various reports on the money laundering situation of the Gambia indicates that the menace is increasingly a major problem in the country hence the need for the government to make significant efforts at beefing up its machinery by putting in place appropriate and standard legislation to combat the social evils.

Regional cooperation key to successful anti-terrorism fight – GIABA

Director General of the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa, Dr. Abdullahi Shehu has called on countries of the West African region to deepen technical cooperation and expertise in the fight against terrorism in the region.

Dr Shehu

Dr. Shehu said this in New York while addressing the meeting of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) as part of activities marking the 10th anniversary of the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001).

Resolution 1373 requires all States to take a series of measures to counter terrorism. These include securing borders, tightening financial controls and cooperating with other countries to ensure terrorists are brought to justice.

According to Dr. Shehu, there are still weaknesses and gaps related to deficiencies in the national legal framework and inadequate national coordination and collaboration between competent authorities. He noted that some ECOWAS Member States do not have laws which adequately criminalize terrorist financing, and where such laws exit, there was little or no regulation or procedure in place to ensure appropriate freezing, seizure and confiscation of terrorist funds.

He further said that there was lack of regional and international cooperation as inter-country operational cooperation is still being forged at a slow pace even though political and policy direction on AML/CFT has been achieved in the region.

GIABA trains Nigerian anti-money laundering advocates

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

GIABA DG

The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) in collaboration with the Journalists Network against Money Laundering/Terrorist Financing, Nigeria Chapter on Thursday 30^th June started a 2-day training workshop for journalists in Nigeria on the scope of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in West Africa.

The aim of the workshop, held at Nevilla Hotel, Kaduna State, Nigeria, was to build the capacity of media practitioners to better report money laundering and terrorist financing activities on the West African sub-region and beyond.

The 2-day event is designed to acquaint the media personnel about regional initiatives on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework, especially the mandate of GIABA and to improve the network among journalists that would promote proper information dissemination on AML/CFT regimes.

The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA)  sponsor of the workshop, noted that transnational organized crimes in particular money laundering and the financing of terrorism pose serious threat to global peace and security thereby undermines sustainable development by eroding social and human capital and threatening social and political stability.

GIABA is a specialised institution of ECOWAS as well as Financial Action Task Force (FATF)–Styled Regional Body established by the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the year 2000 with the mandate to protect the national economies and financial systems of member States from the laundering of proceeds of crimes.

It is expected that the workshop will lead to increase in the pool of highly trained journalists with in-depth knowledge about financial and economic crimes and improved information sharing and dissemination about money laundering and terrorist financing in the country.