American Samoa Steps Up Efforts to Combat Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

American Samoa has made significant strides in implementing anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) best practices, demonstrating its commitment to combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

Implementation of AML/KYC Best Practices

The country’s efforts have been reflected in its ratings, which assess the extent to which a country has implemented technical requirements. According to the Samoa Mutual Evaluation 2015, American Samoa has made notable progress in several key areas:

Assessing Risk and Applying a Risk-Based Approach (R.1): Partial compliance
National Cooperation and Coordination (R.2): Partial compliance
Money Laundering Offence (R.3): Partial compliance
Confiscation and Provisional Measures (R.4): Partial compliance
Terrorist Financing Offence (R.5): Partial compliance
Targeted Financial Sanctions related to Terrorism and Terrorist Financing (R.6): Partial compliance
Record Keeping (R.11): Partial compliance

Additional Progress

American Samoa has also made significant strides in:

Customer Due Diligence (R.10)
Politically Exposed Persons (R.12)
Correspondent Banking (R.13)
Wire Transfers (R.16)
Reliance on Third Parties (R.17)

Additionally, the country has demonstrated a commitment to:

Transparency and Beneficial Ownership of Legal Persons (R.24)
Regulation and Supervision of Financial Institutions (R.26)

Areas for Improvement

While American Samoa’s progress is commendable, there are areas where improvement is needed:

Implementation of New Technologies (R.15)
Reporting of Suspicious Transactions (R.20)
Transparency and Beneficial Ownership of Legal Arrangements (R.25)
International Cooperation (R.37-40)

Conclusion

By continuing to prioritize AML/KYC best practices, American Samoa can enhance the effectiveness of its financial sector in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, ultimately contributing to a safer and more stable global financial system.