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FIA’s Strategic Direction: Preventing Financial Crimes in Malawi
Malawi’s Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) has outlined its strategic direction for the next five years, aimed at preventing and combating financial crimes in the country. The authority’s vision is a Malawi free of financial crimes.
Key Issues
The FIA has identified three key issues that require significant attention:
- Delivery of Service: Detecting and deterring financial crimes, including money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
- Internal Processes and Financial Management: Strengthening the organization’s structure, processes, and systems for effective performance.
- Stakeholders: Increasing public awareness of FIA and AML/CTF issues, strengthening coordination with key stakeholders.
2016-2021 Strategic Direction
The FIA’s strategic direction includes its vision, mission, values, strategic objectives, and actions/strategies:
- Vision: A Malawi free of financial crimes.
- Mission: To prevent and combat financial crimes through detecting and investigating these crimes, and disseminating financial intelligence to law enforcement agencies to maintain the integrity of the financial sector.
- Values: Integrity, confidentiality, excellence, professionalism, transparency and accountability, and creativity and innovation.
The FIA’s strategic objectives for the next five years include:
- Detecting and Detering Financial Crime:
- Receiving and analyzing financial information
- Disseminating financial intelligence to relevant law enforcement agencies
- Following up on feedback from law enforcement agencies
- Providing feedback to reporting institutions
- Developing trends and typologies
- Conducting risk assessments
- Creating training requirements for reporting institutions
- Monitoring utilization of intelligence information
- Updating the Legal and Regulatory Framework:
- Enacting the Financial Crimes Bill
- Updating regulations, general guidelines, and standard operating procedures on compliance
- Developing a resource mobilization strategy
- Strengthening Coordination with Key Stakeholders:
- Reviewing existing memoranda of understanding
- Monitoring implementation of signed memoranda of understanding
- Conducting outreach activities on AML/CTF
- Taking a proactive approach to inter-agency collaboration
- Maintaining good relationships with international bodies
- Enhancing domestic coordination
- Increasing Public Awareness of FIA and AML/CTF Issues:
- Developing a communication strategy
- Reviewing, developing, and disseminating information, education, and communication (IEC) materials
- Partnering with other stakeholders
- Introducing toll-free numbers
- Continuously training police, immigration, and MRA staff
- Partnering with telecommunications companies on public awareness
- Organizing public rallies and debates
- Conducting workshops with professional bodies and other AML/CTF stakeholders
Critical Success Factors
The FIA has identified the following critical success factors to ensure successful execution of its strategic plan:
- Transformative leadership in place.
- Provision of leadership and commitment from executive management.
- Clear understanding of the strategy by all involved in its implementation.
- Strengthening coordination and execution of the strategic plan through the Director General’s office.
- Effective translation of strategic plan targets into annual plans and budgets.
- Effective and efficient communication between staff on the implementation of initiatives and targets.
- Aligning FIA’s organizational structure to the strategy.
- Ability to attract and retain skilled and experienced personnel.
- Clear understanding of the Strategy by all members of staff.
- Predictable and adequate funding.
The FIA is committed to implementing this strategic plan, which will help prevent and combat financial crimes in Malawi.