Title: FATF Evaluates The Gambia’s Compliance with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Standards
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international organization combatting money laundering and terrorist financing, has recently evaluated The Gambia’s progress in implementing the FATF Recommendations. Here’s a summary of the country’s technical compliance ratings as per the Benin Follow-Up Report 2023:
Technical Compliance Ratings
FATF Recommendations and The Gambia’s compliance status:
- R.1 - Assessing risk & applying risk-based approach: Largely Compliant
- R.2 - National cooperation and coordination: Largely Compliant
- R.3 - Money laundering offence: Largely Compliant
- R.4 - Confiscation and provisional measures: Partially Compliant
- R.5 - Terrorist financing offence: Partially Compliant
- R.6 - Targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism & terrorist financing: Largely Compliant
- R.7 - Targeted financial sanctions related to proliferation: Largely Compliant
- R.8 - Non-profit organisations: Non-Compliant
- R.9 - Financial institution secrecy laws: Compliant
- R.10 - Customer due diligence: Partially Compliant
- R.11 - Record keeping: Largely Compliant
- R.12 - Politically exposed persons: Partially Compliant
- R.13 - Correspondent banking: Largely Compliant
- R.14 - Money or value transfer services: Partially Compliant
- R.15 - New technologies: Not Compliant
- R.16 - Wire transfers: Partially Compliant
- R.17 - Reliance on third parties: Largely Compliant
- R.18 - Internal controls and foreign branches and subsidiaries: Largely Compliant
- R.19 - Higher-risk countries: Not Compliant
- R.20 - Reporting of suspicious transactions: Partially Compliant
- R.21 - Tipping-off and confidentiality: Compliant
- R.22 - DNFBPs: Customer due diligence: Partially Compliant
- R.23 - DNFBPs: Other measures: Partially Compliant
- R.24 - Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons: Not Compliant
- R.25 - Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal arrangements: Not Compliant
- R.26 - Regulation and supervision of financial institutions: Partially Compliant
- R.27 - Powers of supervisors: Compliant
- R.28 - Regulation and supervision of DNFBPs: Not Compliant
- R.29 - Financial intelligence units: Compliant
- R.30 - Responsibilities of law enforcement and investigative authorities: Compliant
- R.31 - Powers of law enforcement and investigative authorities: Compliant
- R.32 - Cash couriers: Partially Compliant
- R.33 - Statistics: Large Compliant
- R.34 - Guidance and feedback: Partially Compliant
- R.35- Sanctions: Large Compliant
- R.36 - International instruments: Large Compliant
- R.37 - Mutual legal assistance: Compliant
- R.38 - Mutual legal assistance: Freezing and confiscation: Large Compliant
- R.39 - Extradition: Large Compliant
- R.40 - Other forms of international cooperation: Large Compliant
This evaluation report outlines the current status ofThe Gambia’s implementation of FATF Recommendations. It highlights a mixture of compliance levels, with some areas, like risk assessment and national cooperation, making progress. However, other areas, such as beneficial ownership transparency and DNFBP supervision, still require improvement. The ongoing FATF evaluation process intends to ensure that all its members maintain the global standards for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing. The next assessments and progress reports are anticipated in the future.