Financial Crime World

Namibia Takes Steps to Strengthen Anti-Money Laundering, Countering the Financing of Terrorism, and Proliferation Financing Laws

Namibia’s Cabinet has approved 11 amendments and two new Bills to update the country’s legal framework on anti-money laundering (AML), countering the financing of terrorism (CFT), and proliferation financing (CPF) in line with recent global standards.

Approval of New Legislations and Amendments

According to Zenobia Barry, the acting director of Namibia’s Financial Intelligence Center, these legislative changes were a response to the findings from a recent mutual evaluation [1]. The changes include:

  1. The Financial Intelligence Act, 2012 (Act. No 13 of 2012) amendment
  2. The Prevention and Combating of Organised Crime Act, 2004 (Act No. 29 of 2004) amendment
  3. The Prevention and Combatting of Terrorist and Proliferation Activities Act, 2014 (Act No. 4 of 2014) amendment
  4. The Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act No. 51 of 1977) amendment
  5. The Police Act, 1990 (Act No. 19 of 1990) amendment
  6. The Extradition Act, 1996 (Act No. 11 of 1996) amendment
  7. The International Cooperation in Criminal Matters Act, 2000 (Act No. 9 of 2000) amendment
  8. The Companies Act, 2004 (Act No. 28 of 2004) amendment
  9. The Close Corporations Act, 1988 (Act No. 26 of 1988) amendment
  10. The Banking Institutions Act (Act 2 of 1998) amendment
  11. The Payment Systems Management Act (Act 18 of 2003) amendment
  12. Trust Administration Bill, new
  13. Virtual Assets and Initial Token Offering Services Bill, new

These new laws and amendments will be prioritized for approval in the next parliamentary session to help Namibia fulfill its international obligations.

The National Action Plan to Combat Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

Following the adoption of Namibia’s Mutual Evaluation Report by the Eastern and Southern African Anti-Money Laundering Group’s Council of Ministers in September 2022, the Namibian government adopted a National Action Plan in December 2022 to mitigate the risk of a targeted review or greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) [1]. This National Action Plan covers the legislative changes mentioned above.

The AML/CFT/CPF Council, chaired by the Bank of Namibia governor, Johannes Gawaxab, the Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises, and Namibia’s Prime Minister, continues to oversee the implementation of the National Action Plan. Public and private entities within the financial integrity ecosystem are also reporting their progress regularly [1].

Global Efforts to Combat Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing

This move by Namibia is part of a larger global trend of countries strengthening their AML/CFT/CPF regulations to prevent these illicit activities. By passing these new laws and amendments, Namibia is displaying its commitment to maintaining a robust legal framework in the fight against these crimes.

[1] Zenobia Barry, Acting Director, Financial Intelligence Center, Namibia – ACCI Global FATF Regional Seminar 2023, February 2023.