Guinea Takes Steps to Strengthen Regulations Against Financial Crime
A Progress Report by the FATF
Conakry, Guinea - In an effort to combat financial crime and money laundering, the government of Guinea has taken significant strides in strengthening its regulations. The latest report from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) highlights the country’s progress in implementing international anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) standards.
Notable Improvements
According to the FATF report, Guinea has made notable improvements in several areas:
- National Cooperation and Coordination: The country has demonstrated a commitment to working with international partners to ensure that it remains a secure and stable partner for global finance.
- Money Laundering Offense: Guinea has taken steps to strengthen its laws against money laundering, which is a positive step towards reducing the risk of financial crime.
- Customer Due Diligence: The country has improved its practices in customer due diligence, which helps to prevent and detect financial crimes.
Challenges Ahead
However, the report also notes that Guinea still faces challenges in implementing certain technical requirements of the FATF Recommendations:
- Transparency and Beneficial Ownership: The country remains non-compliant in this area, which makes it difficult to identify and track the beneficial owners of legal persons and arrangements.
- Regulation and Supervision of DNFBPs: Guinea has not yet implemented effective regulation and supervision of designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs), such as lawyers and accountants.
- Higher-Risk Countries: The country has not fully complied with the FATF Recommendations on higher-risk countries, which are countries that have a high risk of financial crime.
Key Findings
- Guinea has made significant progress in implementing AML/CFT standards, but still faces challenges in certain areas.
- The country remains non-compliant in transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and arrangements, regulation and supervision of DNFBPs, and higher-risk countries.
- Guinea’s efforts to strengthen its regulations against financial crime are a positive step towards reducing the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing.
Recommendations
The FATF report provides several recommendations for Guinea:
- Continue Implementing Technical Requirements: The country should continue working on implementing the technical requirements of the FATF Recommendations, particularly in areas where it remains non-compliant.
- Enhance Transparency and Beneficial Ownership: Guinea should enhance transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and arrangements, as well as regulation and supervision of DNFBPs.
- Strengthen International Cooperation: The country should also strengthen its cooperation with international partners to ensure that it remains a secure and stable partner for global finance.