A five days training on
‘financial analysis techniques for Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) and
their partner agencies from The Gambia and Sierra Leone’ will further enhance
the operational capacity of FIUs, the organisers say.
The United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime, UNODC, says the June 30-July 4 course will foster synergies
with key partner agencies in The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Ghana –
which made up the course participants.
“FIUs are a key player when
it comes to anti-money laundering and counter-financing terrorism, AML/CFT, as
they form the link between both components,” Ludovic D’HOORE of UNODC says on
Monday at an international hotel in Banjul, the Gambian capital.
FIUs work involves receiving
and analysing information from reporting entities and pass on relevant
financial intelligence to law enforcement agencies.
Mr Ludovic says establishing
strong FIUs are essential to making such strategies work.
“For several years now, the
security and stability in West Africa have been threatened by terrorist groups,
various forms of illicit trafficking and organised crime,” he notes, while
making reference to recent events in Mali and Nigeria.
Yaya Camara, director of The
Gambia FIU, says the analysis of financial information is crucial for the
production of operational and strategic intelligence for investigations by law
enforcement agencies.
He says the course will help
the FIUs of The Gambia and Sierra Leone to appropriately analyse suspicious
transactions.
Basiru Njai, a deputy
governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, says the country’s authorities
continue to put in place legal, institutional and other measures in line with
international best practices in the fight against money laundering and
terror-financing.
In 2012, The Gambia enacted
an adjusted version of the AML/CFT Act of 2003 to cover adequately, predicate
offences and set up an independent financial intelligence unit.
Njai says the training will
further strengthen international cooperation between the participating
countries FIUs.
Richard Yoneka, Chargé
d’affaires US Embassy, Banjul, says over the years the crimes committed by the
militant group Boko Haram, which has been designated a terrorist organisation
by the US state department, is a case for concern.
“We must be prepared for
anything,” he says while noting Banjul and Freetown have made “remarkable
progress” in their fight against money laundering and terrorism financing.
Written by Modou S. Joof
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