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SAMOA Countries’ Implementation of aML and cFT Regulations Revealed

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has released its ratings for Samoa’s implementation of anti-money laundering (aML) and combating the financing of terrorism (cFT) regulations, providing insight into the country’s compliance with global standards.

FATF Mutual Evaluation Report 2015: Key Findings

According to the FATF Mutual Evaluation Report 2015, Samoa received varying ratings across the 40 Recommendations. The ratings reflect the extent to which a country has implemented the technical requirements of the FATF Recommendations.

Ratings Breakdown

Compliant (C): Regulations such as financial institution secrecy laws and customer due diligence
Largely Compliant (LC): Some progress, but still falling short of full compliance
Non-Compliant (NC): Areas like regulation and supervision of financial institutions and international instruments

Strengths and Weaknesses

The report highlighted strengths 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

However, Samoa was found to be non-compliant in certain areas, including:

Regulation and supervision of DNFBPs (Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions)
Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons
International instruments

Additionally, the country received partially compliant ratings for regulations such as:

Confiscation and provisional measures
Reporting of suspicious transactions

Conclusion

The FATF Mutual Evaluation Report 2015 provides a comprehensive assessment of Samoa’s aML and cFT framework and serves as a tool for the country to improve its implementation of these critical regulations.