Mbabane – The European Union has stepped up its support for Eswatini’s efforts to strengthen its anti money laundering and counter terrorism financing systems ahead of the country’s upcoming mutual evaluation.
EU Ambassador to Eswatini Karsten Mecklenburg held a courtesy meeting with the Secretariat of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG), which is currently in the Kingdom for a Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Standards Training Course.
The training is being supported by the European Union through the SecFin Africa Project and was requested by Eswatini’s national Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Task Force through the Ministry of Finance.
The course brings together key stakeholders from across Eswatini’s financial sector to strengthen their understanding of the FATF Recommendations and improve their practical application ahead of the country’s mutual evaluation.
The courtesy meeting between Mecklenburg and the ESAAMLG Secretariat provided an opportunity to discuss the focus of the training and the broader regulatory issues facing Eswatini’s AML/CFT framework.
Among the matters discussed was the regulatory framework governing non profit organisations and the need to ensure that measures designed to prevent the financing of terrorism remain effective while allowing legitimate civil society organisations to operate within an appropriate regulatory environment.
The EU said its support through the SecFin Africa Project forms part of wider efforts to strengthen AML/CFT frameworks and tackle illicit financial flows across Sub Saharan Africa.
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