The European Union (EU) recognized on Wednesday, October 29, the efforts Mozambique has made over the past three years, culminating in its removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, and confirmed that the country will soon also be removed from the European list of high-risk financial crime.
“Following Mozambique’s removal from the FATF list, the EU confirms that once the necessary procedural steps are completed, Mozambique will also be removed from the European list,” stated a communiqué from the European Union delegation in Maputo, published by Lusa.
The EU also congratulated the Government for the significant efforts undertaken to address the points in the action plan defined with FATF, helping to strengthen its framework for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. “As co-chair of Mozambique’s National Coordination Committee on Technical Assistance, the EU praises all national institutions, organizations, and professionals who worked hard to achieve this important result,” the statement emphasized.
Cited in the note, the EU Ambassador to Mozambique, Antonino Maggiore, acknowledged that Mozambique’s efforts demonstrate a “strong commitment” to continuously improving its system to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, serving as a regional example. “We support the country through a combination of global, regional, and bilateral programs, including a project financed by Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) and implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).”
“This support focused on the process of removal from the grey list, namely strengthening the national framework in several areas, including statistics, beneficial ownership, regulation of the real estate sector, casinos, and gambling, capacity building for judges, prosecutors, and investigators, and countering terrorist financing. The EU remains committed to supporting ongoing progress in promoting transparency, accountability, and integrity in Mozambique’s financial system,” it concluded.
Mozambique entered the FATF grey list on October 22, 2022, due to deficiencies in combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
In June, Finance Minister Carla Louveira revealed that, as part of the efforts to remove the country from the grey list, all 26 recommended actions from the FATF plan had already been completed, “which led the organization to recognize the capacity of our institutions to prevent and combat money laundering and terrorist financing crimes.”
Source: Diário Económico
