On April 17, 2018, a money laundering and terrorist financing (ML&TF) national risk assessment (NRA) workshop was held at the Central Bank of Liberia. Coordinated by Liberia’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the purpose of the NRA is to identify any risks to the country’s AML/CFT regime in order to be able to develop a framework to prevent those risks.
The first phase of the NRA is to educate Liberia on the risks of ML&TF so that businesses are able to identify, assess and understand these risks and apply a risk-based approach (RBA) to mitigate them using the appropriate resources. According to the FIU director-general, Alex Cuffy, Liberia’s banking, insurance, and security sectors will also be assessed to determine their ability to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
The Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) established a schedule for Liberia’s completion of the NRA which began in October 2017 and should be completed by March 2019. NRAs are currently being held in 11 African Countries along with Liberia, including Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso and Gambia.
Liberia must take the NRA seriously in order to avoid being poorly rated said GIABA Research and Planning Director, Muazu Umaru. Having a poor rating will decrease a country’s chances of gaining investors, which will negatively impact that country’s financial sector.
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