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

Richard Marley
April 22, 2021
2 minutes read
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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.

Disclaimer: No warranty is herein provided that the information contained in this document is accurate, up-to-date, and/or complete. In no circumstance(s), does such information constitute legal or any other advice. Any person who intends to use, rely, pass-on, or re-publish the information contained herein in any way is solely responsible for the same. We suggest to verify the information and/or obtain expert advice independently if required.

Latest News

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IMF Urges Central Bank of Seychelles to Upgrade Transparency and AML Controls
The Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) has been advised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to have transparent practices and AML controls.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged CBS, the Central Bank of Seychelles, to incorporate refined practices in different accountability and governance areas. These include confidentiality, supervisory & confidentiality policies along with internal AML/CFT protocols.

According to the statement by IMF, CBS is giving information regarding legal structure, mandate, and a few key elements related to anti-corruption arrangements, risk and human resource management, and accountability on its website.

The review of IMF stated, “To better support the public’s perception of the CBS as a well-governed institution, it should consider highlighting these aspects in its annual report, and/or provide additional information on its website, particularly on human capital management, anti-corruption policies and decision-making arrangements.”

As per IMF’s review, CBS needs to work on several elements, including information’s accessibility to its internal governance arrangements. It could be done by maintaining the Annual Report’s respective sections and website. Moreover, it must overhaul the proceedings by publishing its Code of Conduct and Ethics.

“The legal mechanism for confidentiality issues has been established, but the dissemination and disclosure of the confidentiality framework could be enhanced. The CBS discloses basic information on its AML/CFT supervisory powers and policies, as well as on its related internal control framework, but disclosures on the processes and outcomes of its AML/CFT external policies and internal controls are limited,” said CBS Transparency Code Review of IMF.

IMF review said that the ensurance of transparency practices with new functions and powers by CBS would be effective for its own benefit. The practices adopted by CBS must comply with the powers acquired by the coming legislative act.

IMF’s CBS Transparency Code Review said, “In the last few years, the CBS’s regulatory powers have been substantially expanded with the adoption of AML/CFT Act and Financial Consumer Protection Act. Moreover, the forthcoming Financial Stability Act is expected to provide a transparent legal basis for the CBS’s (and other financial sector regulators) actions on financial stability. These legislative acts will require an expansion of the CBS’s transparency practices so that the related CBS activities continue to be appropriately disclosed to stakeholders.”

The review aims to identify the strength and improvement areas of CBS by allowing it to evaluate its transparency practices. The review presents the map of CBS’s transparency choices in comparison to several practices in three different categories (core, comprehensive, and expanded).

Suggested Read: FCA Advises Firms to Embed Data and Technology to Combat Financial Crimes

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The banking sector is thought to be the backbone of any country’s economy, and due to rising crime cases, it is in dire need of an effective and constant customer due diligence system. It is estimated that the market capitalization of the global banking sector was 7.3 trillion euros in the second quarter of 2022, which highlights the importance of perpetual KYC. The banks have billion of customers globally and due to rising cases of money laundering and terrorist financing, it has become mandatory to keep a strict check on all the transactions.

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The banking sector has always remained a prime target of financial criminals due to its exposure to huge investments and funds. Criminals use a variety of advanced techniques to carry out money laundering inflicting a myriad of damages on the overall economic system. Several cases have been witnessed in the recent past where criminals were charged with committing bank fraud.

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

An Overview of Perpetual KYC

The Need for Perpetual KYC in Banking Sector

Recent Crime Cases in the Banking Industry

Criminal Gang in US Charged with Bank Fraud and Money Laundering

Two Former Employees of Major Bank Charged with Loan Fraud

Global Regulatory Authorities Monitoring the Banking Sector

US

UK

Securing Banking Organizations Through Perpetual KYC

What Shufti Pro Offers?

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