Financial Crime World

Guinea Faces Challenges in Fighting Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing

In a recent report, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) highlighted significant deficiencies in Guinea’s efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The report evaluated Guinea’s compliance with 40 international recommendations and found that despite some progress, the country still faces numerous challenges.

Key Findings

  • New AML/CFT Law: Guinea has adopted a new anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) law, but its impact is unclear due to recent reforms.
  • AML/CFT Regime: The country’s AML/CFT regime is hindered by:
    • Low banking rate
    • Widespread use of cash
    • Large informal sector
  • Risk Assessment: Understanding of money laundering and terrorist financing risks in Guinea is poor, with no national risk assessment widely disseminated or backed by an action plan.
  • National Cooperation: National cooperation and coordination of AML/CFT activities are inadequate, with no mechanism for sharing information between agencies.
  • Confiscation of Proceeds from Crime: Confiscation of proceeds from crime is not a priority, with only a few confiscations recorded.

Challenges in Fighting Terrorism Financing

  • Lack of National Policy: Guinea has no national policy or strategy to prevent terrorism and its financing.
  • Financial Sector Limitations: The country’s financial sector is limited in its ability to detect suspicious activities due to low account penetration among the population.
  • Non-Financial Businesses: Non-financial businesses, such as real estate and dealers in gems and precious metals, are not adequately supervised.

Supervision and Enforcement

  • Bank Supervision: Bank supervision is well-structured, but risk-based approaches are lacking in other sectors, including insurance and foreign exchange bureaus.
  • Limited Impact of Supervisory Measures: Supervisory measures have limited impact due to lack of sanctions and inadequate resources.
  • DNFBPs: DNFBPs (non-financial businesses) are not adequately supervised, with no large-scale measures taken.

International Cooperation

  • Lack of Mechanism: Guinea has no mechanism or adequate resources for international cooperation in AML/CFT.
  • Limited International Cooperation: The country’s use of international cooperation is still insignificant, hindering its ability to combat money laundering and terrorist financing globally.

The report’s findings highlight the need for Guinea to address these significant deficiencies in order to effectively combat money laundering and terrorist financing.