Financial Crime World

Mauritania Makes Progress in Combating Terrorist Financing, but Shortcomings Remain

Significant Progress Made in Combating Terrorist Financing

A recent report by the Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) has highlighted significant progress made by Mauritania in combating terrorist financing (TF), particularly in its efforts to address the risks associated with non-profit organizations (NPOs).

Shortcomings Remain Unaddressed

However, despite these advancements, the country still faces several shortcomings that need to be addressed.

Initial Shortcomings

According to the MER, Mauritania did not initially identify the sectors that fall under the definition of NPOs and failed to conduct a risk assessment process related to the sector. This lack of understanding led to a failure to determine which NPOs are at risk of being exploited by terrorist entities and to identify the nature of threats posed by these organizations.

Addressing Shortcomings

To address these shortcomings, Mauritania took several procedures related to NPOs, including:

  • Issuance of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) / Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Law No. 017-2019 in February 2019
  • Definition of charities that corresponds to the definition provided by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

National Risk Assessment

The National Risk Assessment conducted by Mauritania identified:

  • All NPOs that fall under the FATF definition, including those that are likely to be exposed to TF risks due to their activities or characteristics
  • 7,799 NPOs subject to the 1964 law for associations
  • 1,233 NPOs operating mainly in the field of collecting or distributing funds for charitable, religious, educational, cultural, social, or other good deeds

Conclusion of National Risk Assessment

The National Risk Assessment concluded that there are almost no threats posed by terrorist entities to NPOs and that cases have not been identified in which terrorist actors abuse these organizations. However, the report highlighted the need for Mauritania to establish a mechanism to periodically reassess the risks every three years, including the NPO sector.

Improvements Made

Mauritania has also taken steps to improve its supervision over NPOs, including:

  • Signing of a protocol between the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and supervisory authorities to promote outreach and awareness programs about potential vulnerabilities in NPOs
  • Protocol aims to prevent TF risks and protect NPOs from being misused for terrorist financing purposes

Shortcomings Remain Unaddressed

Despite these advancements, the MER identified several shortcomings that need to be addressed, including:

  • Absence of information on how terrorist actors abuse NPOs
  • Evidence of execution of outreach programs to raise awareness among NPOs
  • Evidence of work with NPOs to develop best practices to address TF risks
  • No information available about mechanisms in place to ensure the immediate exchange of relevant information with competent authorities
  • No information available about the extent to which expertise and powers are available to investigate NPOs

Conclusion

In conclusion, while Mauritania has made significant progress in combating terrorist financing, particularly in its efforts to address the risks associated with NPOs, there are still several shortcomings that need to be addressed. The country must continue to strengthen its efforts to prevent TF risks and protect NPOs from being misused for terrorist financing purposes.