Financial Crime World

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Gambia’s Banking Regulations Compliance Under Scrutiny

In its latest report, global financial watchdogs have raised concerns over Gambia’s compliance with banking regulations, citing weaknesses in certain areas. The country scored mixed ratings across various recommendations issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global standard-setter for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism.

Key Areas of Concern

Gambia received largely compliant ratings in several key areas, including:

  • Assessing risk and applying a risk-based approach
  • National cooperation and coordination
  • Money laundering offense
  • Terrorist financing offense
  • Targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing
  • Correspondent banking

However, it fell short in other areas, such as:

  • Non-profit organizations
  • Financial institution secrecy laws
  • Customer due diligence
  • Record keeping
  • New technologies

Weaknesses Identified

The report highlighted several weaknesses in Gambia’s banking regulations, including:

  • The lack of effective measures to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing in certain sectors
  • Failure to fully implement measures to address the risk posed by non-profit organizations
  • Insufficient safeguards against the misuse of new technologies

Recommendations for Improvement

To address these weaknesses, international financial experts have recommended several measures, including:

  • Strengthening customer due diligence requirements
  • Improving record-keeping practices
  • Enhancing cooperation with other countries
  • Establishing effective anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism regimes in key sectors, such as non-profit organizations

Conclusion

While Gambia has made some progress in implementing banking regulations, there is still much work to be done to ensure full compliance with international standards. The government must take concrete steps to address the weaknesses identified in this report if it hopes to maintain the confidence of its international partners and protect the integrity of its financial system.