June 3 2016
The Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Intelligence Unit of Liberia (FIU) has been outlining reasons why Liberia was downgraded by GIABA.
GIABA is the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in West Africa, which is a specialized institution of ECOWAS responsible for facilitating the adoption and implementation of AML/CFT measures. Addressing a Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) press briefing, Alex Cuffy said Liberia has not completed, passed, approved and published into handbills a draft Anti-Terrorism Act of 2016. Cuffy also disclosed that Liberia doesn’t properly supervise reporting entities for money laundering and terrorist financing.
He pointed to the lack of an Intellectual Property Act and inappropriate structures for the FIU to qualify for membership to the EGMONT Group of FIUs. Cuffy, however, hailed the Legislature’s passage of the Firearm and Ammunition Act of Liberia 2015 in March and hopes for a speedy approval and printing into handbills.