Mali Makes Progress in Banking Regulations Compliance, But Still Has Work to Do

The Republic of Mali has made significant strides in addressing technical compliance deficiencies identified in its Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) on international anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) recommendations. Despite progress, the country still has work to do in implementing key recommendations.

Progress Made

Mali has upgraded several key recommendations, moving from partial to largely compliant or even fully compliant. Specifically:

• Recommendation 2: Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing through Customer Due Diligence: Upgraded from partially compliant to largely compliant.
• Recommendation 6: Recording Transactions and Keeping Records: Upgraded from partially to largely compliant.
• Recommendations 7 and 34: Reporting Suspicious Transactions and International Cooperation: Both improved to largely compliant.

Areas for Improvement

However, Mali still has work to do in implementing other key recommendations. Specifically:

• Recommendation 8: Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing through Correspondent Banking Relationships: Remains only partially compliant.
• Recommendation 28: Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing through Trust and Corporate Services Providers: Also remains only partially compliant.

Enhanced Follow-up System

As a result of Mali’s progress, but still significant compliance deficiencies remaining, the country will remain under the enhanced follow-up system. The next Enhanced Follow-up Report is due in May 2024, which will provide further insight into Mali’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its AML/CFT framework.

In conclusion, while Mali has made progress in addressing technical compliance deficiencies, there is still work to be done to fully implement key recommendations. Ongoing efforts are necessary to ensure the country’s AML/CFT framework is robust and effective.