Ghana removed from EU’s money laundering and terrorist financing list
President Akufo-Addo has revealed that Ghana has been officially taken off the European Union’s list of money laundering and terrorist financing countries.
This feat was achieved after the country enacted various legislations to criminalize money laundering and combat the crime.
As required, Ghana had adequately strengthened its regime against the two practices, in line with international requirements before the global watchdog removed Ghana from the Financial Action Task Force’s list on money laundering and terrorist financing
President Nana Akufo-Addo said Ghana welcomes the news while speaking at a meeting with the visiting Hungarian President Janos Ader at the Jubilee House in Accra.
“We received a notification from the European Commission through the intermediary of the commissioner for financial services, financial stability and capital markets union, Mairead McGuinness that Ghana after the pursuit of some rigorous reforms has now been formally removed from the grey list of high-risk countries in money laundering activities,” he said.
A statement from the Jubilee House in May 2021 indicated that the decision to remove Ghana from the list was arrived at during President Nana Akufo-Addo’s two-day working visit to Brussels, Belgium.
In May 2020, Ghana was cited by the European Commission for anti-money laundering and terrorism financing concerns together with three other African countries including Botswana, Mauritius and Zimbabwe after being subjected to financial transaction scrutiny.
According to the commission’s findings, this was part of a comprehensive approach to further strengthening the EU’s fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
By: Stella Annan | myactiveonline.com Twitter @activetvgh
