Luanda — The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has started the process to operationalize the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Committee, as provided for in the protocol on Finance and Investment of this regional bloc.

According to a note to which ANGOP had access on Monday, this process aims to intensify SADC's efforts to tackle the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

To this end, SADC is scheduled for the inaugural meeting of the AML/CFT in February this year, with the aim of facilitating the convergence of Member States' policies, laws and regulatory practices, within the framework of the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), as well as supporting effective and proportionate action against money laundering and terrorist financing in the region.

According to the document, the operationalization of the SADC AML/CFT Committee follows the decision taken by the Ministers of Finance and Investment at the meeting held in the Democratic Republic of Congo in July 2023.

During the meeting, Member States were informed of the recommendations of the two studies commissioned under the Support Programme for the Improvement of Investment and the Business Environment (SIBE), namely the assessment of the level of risk for the implementation of the FATF recommendations and the assessment of the capacities of national authorities to combat illicit money. QCB/DOJ