Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta
Ghana is no longer blacklisted as a country that has failed to put in checks to fight money laundering.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday (25 June) delisted Ghana from the league of countries with high risk of money laundering.
“The FATF welcomes Ghana’s significant progress in improving its AML/CFT regime. Ghana has strengthened the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime and addressed related technical deficiencies to meet the commitments in its action plan regarding the strategic deficiencies that the FATF identified in October 2018,” a statement issued by FATF said.
“Ghana is therefore no longer subject to the FATF’s increased monitoring process. Ghana will continue to work with GIABA to improve further its AML/CFT regime,” part of the statement read.
The global action to combat money laundering and terrorist financing Haiti, Malta, the Philippines and South Sudan were “new jurisdictions subject to increased monitoring”.
In May 2020, the European Union (EU) blacklisted Ghana among several other countries for money laundering.
Three other African countries were also blacklisted – Botswana, Mauritius and Zimbabwe.
The EU said under the Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD), the Commission has revised its list, taking into account developments at the international level since 2018 and that the “new list is now better aligned with the lists published by the FATF (Financial Action Task Force).”
The other affected countries are The Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, along with Cambodia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, and Panama.
The European Union in October 2020 clarified that there was no evidence of money laundering on the part of any official in the administration of the Akufo-Addo government, although it has blacklisted Ghana.
Clarifying why the West African country was blacklisted back in May 2020, the Head of Delegation of the EU to Ghana, Ambassador Diana Acconcia, said Ghana ended up on the list because it failed to comply with checks that could forestall possible money laundering.
“There is no evidence of money laundering in Ghana,” Ambassador Acconcia said.
According to her, the EU would have ceased doing business with the Akufo-Addo administration if indeed any of his appointees had been caught engaging in money laundering or funding terrorist operations.