Ghana to be removed from EU’s list of money laundering, terrorist financing countries

Ghana is expected to be exempted from the European Union (EU) list of money laundering and terrorist financing countries as soon as possible.

This comes after the European Union’s announcement on May 7, 2020, which included Ghana as one of the 12 countries listed with weak or deficiency in anti-laundering and terrorism financing laws.

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In the country’s situation, the directive was supposed to kick start from October 2020.

According to the EU, Ghana has made a lot of efforts in taking character measures to deal with the issues raised by the financial action and task force (FATF).

Finance Minister-designate, Mr. Ken Ofori Atta said, the government has dealt with the necessary issues and has submitted all the documentation to the European Union.

He made this known before the appointment committee, during the second day of his vetting on Friday, March 26, 2021.

“We have done all the things that are required to be done for us to be taken off the list. What they need finally is a physical inspection and they are expecting to come as soon as practicable for their physical inspection for them to give to the null. Yes, the beneficial ownership issue must be sorted out with the registrar general. The issue of people understanding what the laundering is, I know has been taken to consideration and the issue of NGOs how they operate has been looked at,” He told the appointment committee.

Based on the EU directives 2015/849, article 9, the commission is mandated to identify high-risk third countries having strategic deficiencies in their regime on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing.

The aim is to protect the integrity of the EU financial system. However, on March 7, 2020, the European Union announced that it has put 12 countries on the list of places with weak or deficiency in anti-laundry and terrorism financing laws.

The following jurisdiction is identified as having strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT regime: Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mongolia, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Nicaragua, and Panama.

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Story by: Tabitha Aidoo | universnewsroom.com