Seychelles Releases Summary Report on the National Risk Assessment for Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing
May 23, 2018
Seychelles is committed to maintaining the highest international standards in protecting its economy and financial systems against criminal activities. In keeping with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations, the jurisdiction has today released a summary of the National Risk Assessment (NRA), to coincide with the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers.
Seychelles undertook to conduct its first NRA in 2016, in preparation for the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) Mutual Evaluation, which was finalised in 2017. Its first draft report was received in February 2018.
In the report a number of threats and vulnerabilities were recommended; issues identified can be dealt with through the following actions:
- Building capacity of manpower
- Reviewing relevant legislations and regulatory framework
- Enhancing inter-agency cooperation to optimise the use of scarce resources
- Improving data collection and analysis
- Prioritisation of training
- Implementation of sector-specific recommendations
A summary of the NRA has been published and detailed contents have been made available to respective agencies.
The NRA is the process of identifying and evaluating the money laundering and terrorist financing risks in a particular jurisdiction and analysing the main sources and drivers of the risks. This is done in order to develop effective and risk-based policies and actions, and allocate the available resources in the most efficient ways to eliminate, control and mitigate the identified risks to Seychelles. Such an exercise involves the combined efforts of relevant stakeholders, both from the private and public sectors.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) being the coordinating institution, will be meeting with the relevant agencies in the coming days, to validate the action points put forward, for which progress will thereafter be monitored closely.