Samoa’s Fight Against Money Laundering: A Mixed Bag of Compliance

A recent evaluation of Samoa’s anti-money laundering laws has revealed a mixed picture of compliance with international standards. The country received ratings ranging from compliant to non-compliant across 40 different requirements.

Areas of Compliance

According to the report, Samoa is partially compliant in several areas:

• Assessing risk and applying a risk-based approach (R.1)
• National cooperation and coordination (R.2)
• Money laundering offence (R.3)
• Terrorist financing offence (R.5)
• Targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing (R.6)
• Customer due diligence (R.10)
• Regulation and supervision of financial institutions (R.26)
• Financial intelligence units (R.29)

Areas for Improvement

However, Samoa falls short in several areas:

• Confiscation and provisional measures (R.4)
• Targeted financial sanctions related to proliferation (R.7)
• Reporting of suspicious transactions (R.20)
• Higher-risk countries (R.19)
• International cooperation, specifically:
  • Mutual legal assistance (R.37)
  • Extradition (R.39)
  • Other forms of international cooperation (R.40)

Recommendations

The evaluation highlights the importance of strengthening Samoa’s anti-money laundering regime to prevent the misuse of its financial system for criminal activities. The government has been encouraged to address the identified deficiencies and bring its laws and regulations in line with international standards.

Progress Made

Despite these challenges, Samoa has made progress in recent years to improve its anti-money laundering framework:

• Establishment of a financial intelligence unit
• Introduction of targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing

Full Report

The full report highlights areas for improvement and provides recommendations for the government to enhance its anti-money laundering regime.