Financial Crime World

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Advanced Fee Fraud Suspicions Highlighted in Annual Report

Accra, Ghana - The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) has released its annual report for 2017, revealing a significant increase in advanced fee fraud suspicions and intelligence reports.

Training and Awareness

According to the report, the FIC trained over 1,000 participants from key management and operational staff of participating institutions on Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) issues. The training sessions were conducted in various sectors, including:

  • Banking
  • Insurance
  • Securities
  • Designated non-financial businesses and professions

Deficiencies Identified

The report highlighted several deficiencies identified during the review of AML/CFT regime, including:

  • Inadequate reporting
  • Lack of cooperation among financial institutions

These shortcomings were attributed to Ghana’s Mutual Evaluation ratings, which showed better performance under “Technical Compliance” than “Effectiveness”.

Mutual Evaluation Ratings

Ghana scored:

  • 17 out of 40 FATF recommendations as Compliant
  • 16 Largely Compliant
  • 6 Partially Compliant
  • 1 Non-Compliant

On the Effectiveness criteria, the country was rated:

  • Low on Immediate Outcome (I.O)5 (Legal Persons and Arrangements)
  • Moderate on I.O6 (Use of Financial Intelligence)

Weaknesses in AML/CFT Regime

The report noted that Ghana’s AML/CFT regime has several weaknesses, including:

  • Inadequate supervision
  • Poor record-keeping
  • Lack of cooperation among financial institutions

The country was put under review by the assessment team, which downgraded ratings on I.O5 and I.O6.

Enhanced Follow-Up Process

Ghana has been placed on the “Enhanced Follow-Up Process” to report to GIABA on an annual basis, the progress made in rectifying identified deficiencies in its Mutual Evaluation report. Failure to make satisfactory measures may lead to a public statement from FATF and placement on an International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) process.

Call for Improved Cooperation

The FIC has called for improved cooperation among financial institutions, better reporting, and enhanced supervision to strengthen Ghana’s AML/CFT regime.