Government on Tuesday presented the Anti-Money Laundering Bill, which seeks to prohibit money laundering by making it a criminal offence. If passed into law, offenders will be fined a fee not exceeding Shs 2bn or 15 years in jail or both. The bill will also establish the Anti-Money Laundering Committee and the Finance Intelligence Authority. The minister of state for Finance in charge of Privatization, Aston Kajara, presented the bill in Parliament on behalf of the government before it was sent to the Finance Committee for scrutiny.
…It as well provides specific measures to detect and deter money laundering and to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of money laundering offences and as a response to the threat posed by organized crime. In the bill, persons who convert, transfer or transport property suspected to be proceeds from crime, or assist another person to benefit from such transaction are liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 15 years or a fine not exceeding Shs 2bn or both.
Once passed into law, financial institutions will be required to pay special attention to complex and unusual transactions, as well as transactions made on behalf of persons whose identity is not established and to examine as far as possible and seek information as to the origin and destination of the money, the background and purpose of the transaction or business relationship and identity of the transacting parties including any ultimate beneficiary. Persons carrying out monetary transactions exceeding Shs 50m will be required to fill a form that will be maintained by a financial institution for a period of ten years.
Detailed news link: here