Morocco’s Struggle with Money Laundering: What You Need to Know

Money laundering has been a significant concern in Morocco, with the country facing challenges in implementing the technical requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations. The FATF is an international organization that sets standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

Morocco’s Performance in Implementing FATF Recommendations

In its 2019 mutual evaluation report, Morocco received mixed ratings, reflecting the extent to which it has implemented the FATF’s recommendations. Here are some key areas where Morocco scored well:

• Assessing Risk and Applying a Risk-Based Approach: Morocco demonstrated strong performance in assessing risk and applying a risk-based approach.
• National Cooperation and Coordination: The country showed good cooperation and coordination among its financial institutions, law enforcement agencies, and regulatory bodies.
• Regulation and Supervision of Financial Institutions: Morocco’s regulatory framework is in place to ensure effective supervision and regulation of financial institutions.

However, Morocco struggled in other areas:

• Definition and Criminalization of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Offenses: The country lacks a comprehensive anti-money laundering law, making it difficult to define and criminalize these offenses.
• Confiscation and Provisional Measures: Morocco has not implemented adequate measures to confiscate proceeds from crime or impose provisional measures to prevent the use of such funds.
• Customer Due Diligence: The country’s financial institutions lack effective customer due diligence procedures, making it difficult to identify suspicious transactions.

Challenges in Combating Money Laundering

Morocco has faced several challenges in combating money laundering:

• Lack of a Comprehensive Anti-Money Laundering Law: The absence of a comprehensive anti-money laundering law hinders the country’s ability to effectively combat money laundering.
• Difficulty in Identifying and Prosecuting Money Laundering Cases: Morocco’s authorities have struggled to identify and prosecute money laundering cases, partly due to lack of resources and capacity.

Measures Taken by Morocco to Combat Money Laundering

To address these challenges, Morocco has introduced several measures:

• Creation of a Financial Intelligence Unit: The country has established a financial intelligence unit to collect and analyze information on suspicious transactions.
• Implementation of Stricter Regulations for Financial Institutions: Morocco has implemented stricter regulations for financial institutions to prevent money laundering.

What Needs to be Done

To effectively combat money laundering, Morocco must:

• Strengthen its Anti-Money Laundering Regime: The country needs to strengthen its anti-money laundering regime by implementing the FATF’s recommendations in full.
• Improve Customer Due Diligence: Financial institutions need to improve their customer due diligence procedures to identify suspicious transactions.
• Enhance Suspicious Transaction Reporting: Morocco should enhance suspicious transaction reporting to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.
• Increase Cooperation with International Partners: The country needs to increase cooperation with international partners to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.