The National Bank of Angola (BNA) recently announced that it is implementing a series of actions to strengthen compliance prevention measures of anti-money laundering (AML) and financing of terrorism (FT) in the Angolan financial system.
Responding to the policies and recommendations of the FATF / GAFI (Financial Action Task Force), the BNA has successfully implemented series of procedures and new legislations. These include highlighting policy reforms, developing training materials and guidelines for BNA regulated institutions, ongoing monitoring of the financial system and penalising offending institutions that are not fully compliant with the codes and conduct laid out by BNA.
BNA indicated that suspicious transactions will be addressed to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The FIU is entitled to freeze funds and economic resources of persons, groups or entities designated that comes under their scanner of conducting any fraudulent activities. Moreover, all institutions under its supervision must submit audited reports by end of the year (December 31, 2015) which will be checked for completeness and transparency.
Taking training into consideration, the National Bank of Angola has published guidelines on practical implementation of AML and FT programmes, conducting AML prevention and awareness workshops and other trainings to generate feedback.
Moreover, the BNA has an ongoing financial literacy programme called “ABC of Financial Education”, which addresses various topics around “prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing”. The educational initiative raises awareness among the financial community around AML/FT measures thus bringing stability within the Angolan Financial System (AFS) leading to customer protection. This initiative targeted at AFS’s financial clients’ will be relayed via series of TV and radio programs educating them around “prevention of AML / FT” and its impact to the Angolan financial ecosystem.
According to the Governor of the BNA, José Pedro de Morais: “Angola has made considerable progress in adopting more stringent requirements for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing…We are confident that our measures will assist financial institutions to meet their legal and regulatory requirements efficiently. By ensuring this success, the BNA will promote the integrity of the Angolan financial system by placing it in a strong position worldwide.”
In the first half of 2016, significant development will be witnessed in Angola’s financial system, with regard to compliance relating to AML/FT, ensuring the authenticity and full compatibility of all financial assets of the country.
The Governor concluded: “The BNA is committed to maintaining the financial stability of Angola, to guarantee social development and sustainable economic, seeking increase in FDI inflows in the country. Our aim is to continue to implement structural reforms in order to strengthen the Angolan financial system to mitigate potential money laundering risks and terrorist financing.”
