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Company News on Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Source: citinewsroom.com
2019-02-19
Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance
The Ministry of Finance has described as regrettable the decision of the European Commission [EC] add Ghana to its list of failing countries in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
According to the Ministry, Ghana's determination to implement the AML / CFT framework has been recognized by the global regulator, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). ). [FATF].
"Ghana regrets the decision of the European Commission of 13 February 2019 [EC] Add Ghana to its list of countries with strategic deficiencies in their framework against money laundering and terrorist financing (AML / CFT). Ghana's commitment to strengthen the evolution of its AML / CFT framework has been recognized by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global standard-setting body in the field of AML / CFT. "
"The Ghanaian blacklist by the European Commission therefore does not reflect the current AML / CFT regime in Ghana. This is unfortunate, and the Ghanaian authorities are ready and willing to discuss with the Commission the true status of the country's AML / CFT regime and efforts to strengthen it and remove Ghana from the list of countries with deficiencies. in their AML / CFT framework. "
A statement from the Ministry of Finance's Public Affairs Department explained that the process by which the European Commission decided that Ghana was a country with strategic AML / CFT deficiencies was flawed, adding that it was not necessary There had been no previous engagement between Ghana and various regulators and stakeholders.
The government of Ghana is also asking the European Commission to reconsider its decision against the country.
"We consider that the methodology used by the EC is flawed, as there has been no communication with Ghana regarding gaps to be improved. As a result, Ghana has not had the opportunity to respond or the time to implement corrective measures, which is the norm. We therefore consider that the decision is premature and call for its overthrow. "
European Commission lists Ghana on blacklist of "dirty money"
Last week, the European Commission added Ghana to a list of 23 countries with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing frameworks.
Ghana and its neighbor in West Africa, Nigeria, have been added to an already existing blacklist of 16 countries, announced by the European Commission in a press release of 13 February.
The list, however, did not include specified sanctions, trade restrictions or obstruction of development badistance.
According to the EC, the purpose of this list is to protect the EU financial system by better preventing the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing.
V? Ra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality at the European Commission, said: "We have set the world's toughest anti-money laundering standards. 39, money, but we must ensure that the dirty money from other countries path to our financial system. Dirty money is the cornerstone of organized crime and terrorism. I invite the countries listed to quickly remedy their deficiencies. The Commission is ready to work closely with them to solve these problems for our mutual benefit. "
For each country, the Commission badessed the level of threat, the legal framework and the controls put in place to prevent the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing and their effective implementation. The Commission also took into account the work of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international standard setter in this area.
Below the statement of the Ministry of Finance
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