The
Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA),
will hold the 26th Plenary Meeting of its Technical Commission in Saly,
Republic of Senegal, from 14 to 18 November, 2016.
The
key objective of this meeting is to discuss, among experts from Member States
(MS), the threats and challenges associated with Money Laundering and Terrorism
Financing (ML/TF) in the region.
The
biannual GIABA Plenary meeting also provides an opportunity for member States
to share experiences on the effective implementation of measures designed to
fight against ML/FT.
The
Plenary is a statutory meeting where the reviews of countries’ performance are
considered through their follow-up reports.
Finally,
it provides an opportunity for experts, representatives of member States,
technical partners and observers to meet and exchange fresh ideas on anti-money
laundering and counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures.
During
this meeting, the Evaluation and Compliance Group (ECG) of GIABA will discuss
the Follow-Up Reports on the implementation of the recommendations emanating
from the Mutual Evaluation Reports (MER) of some member States (MS).
The
follow-up is a process, which is aimed at helping member States to resolve the
deficiencies identified in their AML/CFT regimes in order to ensure compliance
with acceptable international standards. It creates a huge positive impact and
steps up the level of compliance of member States in relation to the
recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The
follow-up process is introduced after the discussion and adoption of the Mutual
Evaluation Report. They are then encouraged to address those deficiencies and
are subsequently subjected to the follow-up monitoring processes, with the
obligation to present a report to Plenary on a regular basis until the
requirements are satisfactorily met.
Even
though GIABA member States have been showing incremental improvement through
this process, most of them still have deficiencies in some key aspects of their
AML/CFT regimes as identified in their MERs. The countries whose FURs will be
discussed during this plenary are Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia,
Mali, Togo, Niger and The Islamic Republic of The Gambia.
Also
during the plenary meeting, the GIABA Risks, Trends and Methods Group (RTMG)
will provide, among other things, updates on the concluded typology exercise on
Terrorism Financing in West and Central Africa.
It
will also consider the updates on the ongoing GIABA Typologies on Money
Laundering Emanating from Counterfeit Pharmaceutical Products in West Africa;
the proposed for a new Typology Exercise on ML/TF and the Extractive/Mining
Industry in GIABA Member States; and emerging Terrorist Financing risks.
Other
major activities such as the Regional Forum of Financial Intelligence Units
(FFIU); and the presentation of the Director General’s Activity Report, will be
some of the salient items on the Agenda of this meeting which Senegal normally
hosts at every November.
The
opening ceremony of this meeting will be gracefully attended by the Prime
Minister and Minister of Justice of the Republic of Senegal.
