The Gambia is set to upgrade its ‘deficient’
anti-money laundering and terrorism financing laws with a view to bringing it
in line with international standards, the MarketPlace
Newspaper has revealed.
According to parliamentary sources, as part of the
second meeting of the National Assembly in the 2012 Legislative Year (from 18 to
28 June 2012), Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Abdou Kolley, on 27 June,
shall lay before the National Assembly the Anti-Money Laundering and Financing
of Terrorism Bill 2012 for ratification by the country’s lawmakers.
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| Finance Minister Abdou Kolley |
The passage of this bill is part of government’s efforts
at beefing up its machinery by putting in place appropriate and standard
legislation to combat money laundering and terrorist financing to prevent the
country’s financial system from being misused as a channel for the transfer and
retention of illicit funds.
The previous Anti-Money Laundering law of The Gambia
is below standard as it designated only 13 predicate offences for money
laundering. This falls short of the minimum 20 designated categories under the
recommendation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which is the
principal international standard body setting on money laundering and terrorist
financing.
In this vein, the Inter-Governmental Action Group
against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (GIABA) - an arm of ECOWAS
responsible for the
prevention and control of money laundering and terrorist financing in West
Africa
- has been urging the Gambian authorities to amend and pass a standard anti-money
laundering legislation. Getting the Anti-Money
Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Bill 2012 passed will serve as a
testimony that the Gambia government has paid heed to GIABA’s call and that the
negotiation leading to actualizing the bill was fruitful.
