Treasury wants companies to hire anti-money laundering officers

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Treasury desires firms to rent anti-money laundering officers

Monday October 02 2023

Kenyans have till October 2, by 5 pm to submit feedback on Regulation No.10 of the Crime and Anti-Cash Laundering Rules of 2023 Photograph|Shutterstock

The Nationwide Treasury now desires monetary establishments and designated non-financial establishments to have Anti-Cash Laundering Reporting Officers as the federal government seeks to tighten the leash on illicit monetary flows within the nation.

That is supplied in Regulation No.10 of the Crime and Anti-Cash Laundering Rules of 2023 revealed by the Nationwide Treasury and for which Kenyans have till October 2, by  5pm to submit feedback.

Designated non-financial establishments embody casinos; actual property businesses; establishments dealing in treasured metals and treasured stones; accountants who’re sole practitioners or companions of their establishments; and non-governmental organizations.

“A reporting establishment shall appoint a Cash Laundering Reporting Officer. The Cash Laundering Reporting Officer shall be on the administration degree and shall have obligatory and related competence, authority and independence. All employees in a reporting establishment shall monitor and report back to the Cash Laundering Reporting Officer any suspicious exercise on cash laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing”, the laws state.

This comes barely a month after President William Ruto signed into regulation the Anti-Cash Laundering and Combating of Terrorism Financing Legal guidelines (Modification) Invoice of 2023. The brand new regulation removes the Monetary Reporting Centre from the classification of a state company, a transfer anticipated to grant the centre operational independence.

The brand new regulation additionally empowers each the Capital Markets Authority and the Insurance coverage Regulatory Authority to implement compliance with the provisions of the Act amongst their licensees, a transfer that widens the attain of regulatory watchdogs in combating illicit monetary flows within the nation.

In keeping with the proposed 2023 laws, the Cash Laundering Reporting Officer can be reporting on to the Monetary Reporting Centre. The laws bar any Chief Govt Officer or Inner Auditor from eligibility for appointment as an Anti-Cash Laundering Reporting Officer besides within the case the place the enterprise is a sole proprietorship.

“The Cash Laundering Reporting Officer shall report forthwith to the Monetary Reporting Centre any transaction or exercise that he has cause to consider is suspicious in a way the Centre could specify. The place the Centre receives a report made by a Cash Laundering Reporting Officer it shall acknowledge receipt of the report forthwith”, the laws state.  

Tightening controls over anti-money laundering are a key a part of Kenya’s ongoing programme with the Worldwide Financial Fund (IMF).

“The Finish-June 2023 structural benchmark on draft amendments to handle authorized and regulatory gaps within the Anti-Cash Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism framework is on observe. The authorities plan to undergo Parliament by the June draft authorized amendments to handle gaps within the AML/CFT framework to additional help anticorruption efforts,” the IMF stated in its newest report.

The worldwide cash laundering and terrorism financing watchdog, the Monetary Motion Activity Drive (FATF), carried out an on-site go to in Kenya between January 31 to February 11, 2022.