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The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has reaffirmed its dedication to addressing significant gaps in the country’s financial ecosystem to prevent a return to the EU and UK’s high-risk money laundering and terrorism financing list.
Following a mutual evaluation in 2016 that revealed deficiencies in Ghana’s AML/CFT/PF regime, the country was grey-listed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2018. Ghana successfully delisted in 2020 after implementing extensive reforms in alignment with FATF recommendations.
This commitment was emphasized at the Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing, and Proliferation Financing (ML/TF & PF) National Risk Assessment (NRA) pre-assessment workshop in Accra, aimed at preparing for the third round of mutual evaluation in 2025.
Elsie Addo-Awadzie, the Second Deputy Governor of BoG, pledged the central bank’s readiness to enhance the regulatory framework to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. She emphasized the importance of sustaining the achievements made in reforms that led to the removal of Ghana from adverse listings.
Addo-Awadzie stated, “It is imperative that we sustain the fruits of the hard work exerted by all stakeholders that led to critical reforms and implementation that persuaded FATF, the EU, and the UK to remove Ghana from any adverse listings for ML/CFT/PF risks.”
She underscored the significance of the NRA as a self-assessment tool to evaluate the robustness of Ghana’s AML/CFT/PF regime amid evolving financial systems and business practices. The Bank of Ghana is actively sensitizing banks and regulated entities on their roles in making the NRA successful.
The Financial Intelligence Center, recognizing systemic challenges, expressed its commitment to addressing these issues to position Ghana as a reputable destination for financial services on the continent. The CEO of the Financial Intelligence Centre, Kwaku Dua, stated, “We will do it again to maintain the good image of Ghana in the sub-region as far as AML/CFT is concerned,” highlighting the collective effort required to strengthen the country’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime.
Source:Omanghana.com
