FATF President Elisa de Anda Stresses Global Cooperation in Combating Financial Crime at ESAAMLG’s 25th Anniversary

FATF President Elisa de Anda Madrazo emphasized the critical need for increased international cooperation to combat financial crime during her address in Kenya on Friday. The occasion marked the 25th anniversary of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG), an organization representing 21 countries in the region.

Speaking to the ESAAMLG Council of Ministers, Ms. de Anda Madrazo underscored the importance of global collaboration in the fight against financial crime, particularly highlighting the valuable role that ESAAMLG plays in understanding and addressing terrorist financing risks. "I cannot stress enough the need for global co-operation and inputs from the entire ‘Global Network’,” she stated. “ESAAMLG’s strong expertise and understanding of terrorist financing risks is already and will continue to be critical to our work.”

Ms. de Anda Madrazo also outlined the key priorities that will guide her FATF presidency, focusing on enhancing the transparency and inclusiveness of the Global Network, deepening support for financial inclusion, and ensuring a successful and effective next round of assessments that will be more risk-based and timely.

In addition to her speech in Kenya, Ms. de Anda Madrazo is scheduled to deliver a keynote address in London on October 9 at the 'International Anti-Financial Crime Summit 2024,' which will be attended by top leaders from the banking, fintech, regulatory, and law enforcement sectors.

During today’s event, the FATF President congratulated Kenya on its successful tenure presiding over the ESAAMLG Council of Ministers and Task Force, and extended her best wishes to Ethiopia as it prepares to take on the upcoming presidency. FATF also reiterated its commitment to ongoing engagement with ESAAMLG, emphasizing the importance of collaboration in strengthening the Global Network and the collective response to money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation financing.

Earlier in the week, FATF Executive Secretary Violaine Clerc addressed the need for all FATF and FSRBs’ members to actively participate within the agency’s Global Network. Speaking at the ESAAMLG Task Force Plenary meeting on Wednesday, Ms. Clerc stressed the necessity of a united front in the fight against financial crime. “We need to build a united front, we need to support each other, we need to work together to deprive criminals of their source of funding and their ill-gotten gains,” she said. “These amounts should not contribute to the well-being of criminals but to the well-being of populations in need: these amounts could give access to decent living conditions, healthcare starting with vaccines, education.”

The Global Network, which consists of the FATF and the nine FATF-Style Regional Bodies (FSRBs), oversees a significant portion of the world’s anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) efforts. The FSRBs play a crucial role in supporting their member jurisdictions in implementing FATF Standards and in assessing their AML/CFT regimes.

Friday's meeting of the Council of Ministers, ESAAMLG's decision-making body, was attended by ministers from the region's 21 member countries: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

To commemorate the silver jubilee of ESAAMLG, FATF President de Anda Madrazo addressed the Council of Ministers, reaffirming the importance of continued collaboration and partnership in ensuring the global implementation of effective measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

On Thursday, Ms. Clerc, along with ESAAMLG Executive Secretary Fikile Zitha and outgoing ESAAMLG Chairperson Saitoti Maika, discussed the critical need for ongoing cooperation. They emphasized that the active participation of the FSRBs in the work of FATF is essential for the global implementation of effective anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures. The Global Network, which unites over 200 governments and 20 observer international organizations, remains a cornerstone in the global effort to combat financial crime.

By fLEXI tEAM