Law to fight money laundering on the cards

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Thursday November 20, 2008 00:00

 

According to the Government Gazette of November 12, the law will also provide for a national coordinating committee on financial intelligence.

The law will provide for the reporting of 'suspicious transactions'. It will also empower the Financial Intelligence Agency to work with similar international organisations.

The agency will be headed by a director 'with such other officers as may be necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency' reads the bill in part.

The bill also states that the Financial Intelligence Agency will be an independent body, 'free from the control of any other authority'.

'The agency shall be the central unit responsible for requesting, receiving, analysing and disseminating information to an investigatory authority'. It will disclose financial information concerning suspicious transactions, and other information required to counter financial offences.

The agency will also be responsible for disclosing financial information concerning the financing of any activities or transactions related to terrorism.

The bill also establishes a national coordinating committee on financial intelligence, which will be made up of the director and representatives from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning as the chairperson.

Other representatives will come from the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), the police, the Attorney General's chambers, Bank of Botswana, the Botswana Unified Revenue Services, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Department of Immigration, the Non Bank Financial Institution Regulatory Authority, Directorate of Intelligence and Security, the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security, while the director shall be the secretary to the committee.

Among others, the committee 'will assess the effectiveness of policies and measures to combat financial offences such as money laundering, financing of terrorism and the acquisition of property from the proceeds of any other offence'.

The committee will make recommendations to the minister for legislative, administrative and policy reforms in respect to financial offences. It will have policies to protect the reputation of Botswana with regard to financial offences and it will meet quarterly.