Monday 9 September 2013

Press Release: GIABA trains West African accountants on AML/CFT requirements in Banjul

The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) will organize a regional training on anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements for accountants from the five English-speaking countries in West Africa. The workshop will hold from 11 to 12 September, 2013 in Banjul, The Gambia.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) revised standards place obligations on accounting professionals to adopt and implement anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures, including  risk assessment and application of the Risk-Based Approach to AML/CFT implementation, Customer identification/Customer Due Diligence, record keeping  and  reporting of suspicious transactions.
The main objective of the programme is to enhance the capacity of accountants on the revised FATF Recommendations to enable them fulfill their obligations.

In 2012, the GIABA Secretariat held a sensitization programme in Dakar, Senegal, for Accountants from Francophone member States. The initiative was a first step in sensitizing Accountants and Auditors on their roles in strengthening their countries’ AML/CFT regimes. A major resolution at that programme was that GIABA should sustain efforts to create awareness among the Association of Accountants and urge member States to direct professional bodies to create self-regulatory bodies within relevant sectors to further drive AML/CFT compliance. The current programme is therefore, designed for Accountants from the Anglophone member States and is part of GIABA’s commitment to sensitize and support accountants from benefiting member States to effectively implement robust AML/CFT measures.