14 Jun 2018

The proposed amendments to the Financial Intelligence Act will not only enable government to deal with money laundering and the financing of terrorism, but will also enhance the integrity of the financial sector.
Presenting the Financial Intelligence Amendment Bill on Wednesday, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Kenneth Matambo said the amendment also addressed issues regarding the movement of funds in and outside Botswana, and extended to the reporting of suspicious financial transactions to accountable institutions.
Minister Matambo pointed out that it also provided for the appointment of compliance officers as well as the appointment and security of tenure of the head of the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA).
He said the bill also provided for the screening of compliance officers with the view to strengthen customer due diligence measures with regard to an existing business relationships.
Furthermore, he said the bill provided for incidences where there was conflict between the provisions of the Financial Intelligence Act and any other law on matters of anti-money laundering or counter-financing of terrorism, saying should that happen, provisions of the act would take precedence.
In addition, the bill also provided for the appointment of the director general of FIA by the President instead of the minister, he said.
Mr Matambo added that the bill also sought to extend the mandate of FIA by empowering the agency to request for further information from a customer where there was doubt regarding the veracity of adequacy of previously obtained information.
The minister indicated that the bill would sought to compel specified officers such as attorneys, notaries and accountants to report suspicious transactions.
Debating the bill, Gaborone Bonnington South MP, Mr Ndaba Gaolathe said despite that in principle the amendments were necessary, it remained important to discuss their implications particularly from an economic perspective, arguing that the many restrictions being put into place had the potential to create or fuel the existence of a black market through which individuals or groups would find ways of circumventing banking institutions.
Mr Gaolathe also highlighted the need for checks and balances, saying there had to be a provision that once the President had made a nomination, such nominations had to be subjected to approval from another body outside the executive.
 This, he said, was necessary to ensure that whenever authorities made nominations they would have thoroughly applied their minds by considering all factors and variables to warrant that only the best were selected.
Mahalapye East MP, Ms Botlogile Tshireletso said since Botswana did not exist in isolation, it was critical that the country’s laws be aligned with those of other countries.
Ms Tshireletso said for this reason, the country needed to have laws that protected its economy, adding that such laws should empower those tasked with enforcing them to do so efficiently.
In his contribution, MP Joseph Molefe of Mahalapye West also appealed for compliance officers to be capacitated, saying it was critical that resource limitations did not hamper their duties.
MP Molefe said the provision for the monitoring of transactions taking place outside the country was commendable, equally hailing the prohibition of the opening of anonymous accounts. He said some local banks hold accounts whose owners and sources of funds were unknown. ENDS