The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) says the Namibian government is working closely with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to remove its greylisting by the Task Force. 

Earlier this year, Namibia was greylisted by the FATF and placed under increased monitoring due to concerns, among others, over the effective implementation of the International Anti-Money Laundering, Combating the Financing of Terrorism, and Combating Proliferation Financing provisions.

Speaking at the Judicial Workshop on Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery in Windhoek, the Director of FIC, Bryan Eiseb, says the workshop comes at a time when Namibia finds itself having been greylisted by the FATF as part of the jurisdictions under increased monitoring because of various strategic deficiencies that were identified in its national anti-money laundering regime.

"The Financial Intelligence Centre, serving as the National Coordination Agency, finds itself at the helm of ensuring that these strategic deficiencies are remedied as soon as possible or at minimum according to the timelines set out in our Action Plan. In doing so, it is important to give assurance to the public," he said. 

In addressing some of the deficiencies last year, Namibia amended nine laws and introduced four new ones to strengthen its regulatory framework for the financial sector and strengthen anti-money laundering measures. 

"These efforts have not gone unnoticed, and Namibia has been applauded by the global AML community, which views them as a commitment to modernise our AML regime and align it with global standards such as the 40 recommendations of the FATF. The amendment and promulgation of these laws, however, deal with one component of a two-tiered approach, which is technical compliance with the FATF recommendations. The other component is the assessment of the effectiveness of our AML regime through 11 immediate outcomes. These immediate outcomes, or IOS, as they are generally referred to, measure the effective implementation of these laws; in other words, how effective the "value chain" and various institutions involved in implementing these laws are."

Eiseb also noted that the 11 IOS also assess the technical, financial, and human capacities of these institutions in fighting both predicate and money laundering and other offences such as the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The immediate outcomes will also be used as a tool to gauge capacity and knowledge coordination between national agencies.

Namibia, as a signatory to various UN Conventions, is tasked alongside other UN Member States to actively and effectively prevent and combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. These obligations aim to safeguard the integrity and stability of the financial system and contribute to overall safety and security.