Financial Crime World

Guinea’s Fight Against Money Laundering and Terror Financing: A Mixed Bag

A new report by the GIABA (West African Monetary and Economic Union) has shed light on Guinea’s efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. While the country has made significant strides in improving its anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime, several key deficiencies remain.

Key Findings

The report highlights a range of issues, including:

  • Lack of National Cooperation: The lack of robust national cooperation and coordination among authorities hampers the effectiveness of AML/CFT efforts.
  • Poor Understanding of Risks: There is no comprehensive national risk assessment (NRA) in place to understand money laundering and terrorist financing risks in Guinea.
  • Inadequate Financial Intelligence Gathering: Few law enforcement agencies use financial intelligence in their investigations, hindering effective monitoring and prevention of AML/CFT crimes.
  • Limited International Cooperation: The limited use of international cooperation mechanisms, such as mutual legal assistance and extradition treaties, hinders the exchange of information and coordination between countries.
  • Weak Supervision of Non-Financial Businesses: Weak supervision of non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs), including real estate agents and dealers in gems and precious metals, creates vulnerabilities for AML/CFT exploitation.

Challenges Ahead

The report also highlights several challenges that Guinea must address to strengthen its AML/CFT regime. These include:

  • Improving Transparency: Improving the transparency of legal persons and legal arrangements is crucial, which requires addressing structural challenges and enhancing understanding of ML/TF risks.
  • Enhancing Bank Supervision: Enhancing bank supervision, particularly in areas such as risk-based supervision and sanctions for non-compliance, is essential to prevent AML/CFT crimes.
  • Increasing International Cooperation: Increasing the use of international cooperation mechanisms is critical to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing effectively.
  • Confiscation of Proceeds: Improving the confiscation of proceeds and instrumentalities of crime remains a low priority and must be addressed.

Conclusion

Guinea has made significant progress in improving its AML/CFT regime, but several key deficiencies remain. To effectively combat money laundering and terrorist financing, Guinea must address these challenges and strengthen its national cooperation, supervision, and international cooperation mechanisms. The GIABA report provides a valuable roadmap for Guinea’s authorities to improve their AML/CFT efforts and protect the country from the threats of money laundering and terrorist financing.