�More work needed to combat money laundering�
Isaac Pinielo | Tuesday February 21, 2017 18:00
Money laundering involves criminal activities, such as drug trafficking, smuggling, human trafficking, corruption and others that tend to generate large amounts of profit for the individuals or groups carrying out the criminal acts.
Speaking at the launch of the National Risk Assessment (NRA) in Gaborone last week, Seretse said while the country’s national vulnerability assessment shows the existence of a strong legislative and regulatory framework, there is inability to combat money laundering, suggesting weak enforcement effectiveness.
“The overall sectoral vulnerability rating of medium high and the overall national vulnerability rating of medium high suggests a low capacity to deal with the threats,” she said.
According to Seretse, the country’s inability to combat money laundering was mainly attributed to the absence of a clear policy direction and strategy on issues of money laundering.
Recently, the US Department of State money laundering assessment through the 2016 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) labelled Botswana as a ‘monitored’ jurisdiction, stating that the country aspires to be a regional financial centre under the Economic Diversification Drive (EDD) strategy, and that it has an insufficient framework for addressing money laundering and terrorism financing.
However, Seretse expressed optimism that the desired outcome of the NRA process will assist the development and implementation of Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) policy and strategy for the country.
She noted that the NRA is a deliberate ‘self-check’ to make sure that the country understands the money laundering, financing of terrorism and proliferation of arms of mass destruction risks facing the country.
“Knowing the nature and level of AML/CFT risks facing our country will enable stakeholders and policy makers to prioritise the high risk areas and allocate the limited resources accordingly,” Seretse said.
She indicated that given the gaps, challenges and weaknesses identified, the NRA team recommended advancement of national efforts to combat money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation of arms of mass destruction.
Furthermore, there was suggestion for automation of systems to enable monitoring and reporting of transactions, as well as capacity building of law enforcement officers and improvement of international cooperation through Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLAT).
The team also called for closing of deficiencies and gaps in the Financial Intelligence Act 2009 and Regulations 2013, Counter Terrorism Act 2014, Proceeds and Instruments of Crime Act 2014 and Establishment of the Counter Terrorism Fusion Agency per the Counter Terrorism Act.
Elene Imnadze, the World Bank country representative said the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group is finalising AML/CFT evaluation of Botswana.
“We hope that when that evaluation report is adopted and published, Botswana will use it together with the NRA report and action to step-up as a leading country, modelling best practices that other African countries can learn from in targeting resources most efficiently to build a strong and well-implemented AML/CFT system,” she said.
She acknowledged that the NRA report and action plan recognises that there is still work to be done to improve the legal and regulatory frameworks on which an effective AML/CFT depends, and even more work to do in the area of improving technical implementation.