A Two-day workshop was organised last week, targeting non-profit organisations, to raise awareness about the risks they may face in regards to terrorism financing.
The workshop was organised by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), in collaboration with the Registration Division, and European Commission’s Technical Assistance and Information Exchange Instrument (TAIEX) and funded by the Partnership Instrument (PI).
Two experts from the European Union, were on a mission to conduct a sectoral Terrorism Financing (TF) Risk Assessment of Non-Profit Organizations
The two-day workshop, was part of their mission and it was the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Finance, National Planning and Trade, SS Patrick Payet, who gave the opening address at the event. SS Payet is also the chairman of the National Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Committee – (NAC).
He noted that while ‘the Government recognizes the essential role that Non-profit organisations play in supporting the social and economic well-being of the country, often complementing governments’ efforts to provide services, goods, assistance and resources to serve different needs and interests of the community’, the sector is still vulnerable to certain threats.
“This exercise will include obtaining information on the activities, size and other relevant features of NPOs in Seychelles and their likelihood to be used by criminals. It will also assess the adequacy of measures in place and identify strategies that need to be developed to address the identified risks.”
The assessment is a necessity as the last time (2018), a Mutual Evaluation was conducted in Seychelles by the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group, (ESAAMLG), major deficiencies were identified in the sector, in the legal framework and the application of the laws
These deficiencies contributed to Seychelles being ranked ‘non-compliant’ to Recommendation 8 of the Financial Action Task Force (FAFT). Recommendation 8 ‘calls for a risk-based approach to the supervision of the NPO Sector.’
This risk assessment of the NPO sector, is designed to show the ‘efforts, engagements and commitments’ of Seychelles to continuously improve its standing, especially so, as the country is due for a ‘re-rating’.