Financial Crime World

Gabon’s Banking Sector Scores Well in FATF Mutual Evaluation

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has recently released its Mutual Evaluation Report on Gabon, assessing the country’s compliance with international standards to prevent and combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit activities. The report highlights significant progress made by Gabon in implementing technical requirements of the FATF Recommendations.

Areas of Compliance

Gabon has demonstrated strong compliance in several areas:

  • National Cooperation and Coordination: Gabon is fully compliant with recommendation R.2, ensuring effective coordination among national authorities.
  • Confiscation and Provisional Measures: The country has implemented measures to confiscate and freeze assets, as recommended by R.4.
  • Financial Intelligence Units: Gabon’s financial intelligence units are functioning effectively, in line with recommendation R.29.

Gabon has also made significant progress in implementing:

  • Customer Due Diligence: The country has strengthened its customer due diligence processes, as recommended by R.10.
  • Internal Controls and Foreign Branches and Subsidiaries: Gabon’s financial institutions have implemented effective internal controls and monitoring systems for foreign branches and subsidiaries, in line with recommendation R.18.

Areas of Partial Compliance

Gabon was partially compliant in several areas:

  • Assessing Risk and Applying a Risk-Based Approach: While the country has made progress in assessing risk, it still needs to strengthen its risk-based approach, as recommended by R.1.
  • Targeted Financial Sanctions related to Terrorism and Terrorist Financing: Gabon’s financial institutions have implemented targeted sanctions, but the country still needs to improve its implementation, as recommended by R.6.
  • Financial Institution Secrecy Laws: The country has laws in place to ensure transparency, but more work is needed to implement them effectively, as recommended by R.9.

Gabon also made progress in implementing:

  • Correspondent Banking: The country has established correspondent banking relationships, as recommended by R.13.
  • Money or Value Transfer Services: Gabon’s financial institutions offer money and value transfer services, but the country still needs to improve its regulation and supervision of these services, as recommended by R.14.

Areas Requiring Improvement

Gabon was non-compliant in a few areas:

  • Transparency and Beneficial Ownership of Legal Persons and Arrangements: The country lacks adequate transparency measures and does not effectively require beneficial ownership information from legal persons and arrangements, as recommended by R.24 and R.25.
  • Regulation and Supervision of Financial Institutions: Gabon’s regulatory framework for financial institutions is still developing, and the country needs to strengthen its supervisory powers, as recommended by R.26.
  • Powers of Supervisors: The country’s supervisors lack adequate powers to effectively supervise and enforce anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulations, as recommended by R.27.
  • Law Enforcement and Investigative Authorities: Gabon’s law enforcement and investigative authorities need to improve their capabilities to investigate and prosecute money laundering and terrorist financing cases, as recommended by R.30.

Roadmap for Improvement

The FATF Mutual Evaluation Report provides a roadmap for Gabon’s banking sector to further strengthen its compliance with international standards. The report recommends that the country:

  • Enhance its efforts in implementing transparency measures
  • Improve its supervisory framework
  • Strengthen its law enforcement capabilities

Overall, Gabon’s progress in implementing the FATF Recommendations is encouraging, but there is still much work to be done to ensure a robust anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regime.