Morocco’s Parliament Unanimously Approves the Bill to Amend AML Regulations

The House of Representatives of Morocco has unanimously agreed to pass the bill to amend the anti-money laundering law and the penal code. 

A meeting was held this week and the bill regarding the reformation of the AML laws was unanimously agreed upon by the justice and legislative and committee. 

In a plenary session, Justice Minister Mohamed Ben Abdelkader talked about how the bill will enable authorities to, “track illicit funds in preparation for their confiscation. It also comes in line with making national laws compatible with the standards of the International Financial Action Task Force (FATF).”

This bill broadens the acts that constitute that money laundering crime should include such crimes that were committed overseas. It also extends the law of “confiscation of property” to include “the predicate offence of money laundering.”

Such implementations are also included in the recommendations provided by the global regulatory authority, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), “legislative measures that allow the confiscation of laundered property, earnings or even means used or those intended to be used in money laundering or predicate crimes.”

The bill specifies that the financial and non-financial institutions including lawyers, notaries, and others, are mandated to provide the Financial Information Authority with the information of the business they conduct with their clients. 

#Morocco’s Parliament Amends Anti-Money Laundering Law https://t.co/ej3WJxr3Qn

— Asharq Al-Awsat English (@aawsat_eng) April 21, 2021

The new bill also involves the requirement to monitor the gambling activities in ships and the trafficking of precious stones like diamonds, and precious metals like gold. These are frequently a target for money laundering and this is why they are a part of the bill’s control department. 

These steps taken by Morocco’s parliament align with the recently issued recommendations by FATF in February. 

FATF has put Morocco along with the other three countries on the watchlist for the increased monitoring. The grey list by FATF has currently 19 countries and territories. These countries and territories are only partially fulfilling the international regulations for combating terrorism financing and money laundering crimes.