Financial Crime World

Namibia’s Anti-Money Laundering Rules Receive Mixed Review

A recent report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has evaluated Namibia’s anti-money laundering rules, revealing a mixed rating with some areas showing significant compliance while others require improvement.

Compliant Areas

The report highlights that Namibia has implemented several technical requirements of the FATF Recommendations, earning it a “largely compliant” rating in areas such as:

  • Assessing risk and applying a risk-based approach
  • National cooperation and coordination
  • Targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing

Non-Compliant Areas

However, Namibia fell short of expectations in other areas, including:

  • Confiscation and provisional measures: “partially compliant”
  • Terrorist financing offence: “partially compliant”
  • Customer due diligence: “partially compliant”
  • Record keeping: “partially compliant”
  • Cash couriers: “partially compliant”
  • Non-profit organisations: “non-compliant”
  • New technologies: “non-compliant”

Praised Efforts

The report commends Namibia’s efforts in implementing financial institution secrecy laws and customer due diligence, earning it a “compliant” rating in these areas. Additionally, the country was praised for its:

  • Regulation and supervision of financial institutions
  • Powers of supervisors
  • Financial intelligence units: all received a “compliant” rating

Challenges Ahead

Despite some progress, Namibia still faces significant challenges in implementing effective anti-money laundering measures. The report highlights the need for improvement in areas such as:

  • Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and arrangements
  • Regulation and supervision of designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs)
  • Mutual legal assistance

FATF Report Recommendations

The FATF report provides recommendations for improvement, which will be used by the Namibian government to strengthen its anti-money laundering regime. The report is a follow-up to Namibia’s 2023 Benin Follow-Up Report, which assessed the country’s progress in implementing anti-money laundering measures.

Overall, the report highlights that while Namibia has made some progress in implementing anti-money laundering rules, there are still significant challenges ahead and areas for improvement.