29 Apr 2019

Local supervisory authorities such as the Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA), the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) and the Botswana Accountancy Oversight Authority (BAOA) have been urged to closely work with the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) to secure Botswana’s delisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Speaking at the annual BICA dinner dance recently, NBFIRA chief executive officer Mr Oaitse Ramasedi said  Botswana’s recent listing by FATF, a body that spearheads the fights against money laundering, terrorist financing and other threats to the integrity of the international financial system called for all key stakeholders to join hands to address and close the gaps identified by FATF.

He explained that the listing called for enhanced supervision of the country’s financial system, indicating moreover that the listing of any country by FATF often engendered negative business and reputational ramifications because it was often perceived as a disincentive to global investors and international financial institutions.

On accountancy, he observed that it was evident that the profession had a critical role to play in the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as recognised by professional international bodies such as the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting Council (ISAR).

He pointed out that a 2015 IFAC study had linked a strong accountancy profession to national economic growth and improved living standards for citizens, adding that most notable amongst the findings of the study was that the accountancy profession contributed $575 billion Gross Value Added (GVA) annually to the global economy.

“Other key findings of the study established that the global regions with a higher share of accountants in total employment have a higher per capita GDP, and the correlation between the share of accountants in total employment and the UN Human Development Index (HDI) is even stronger,” he noted.

Also, he indicated that while the influential and invaluable role of accountants in economic development and sustainability had been firmly established, it was equally important to note that all these could be reversed if some accountants engaged in or we complicit to financial crimes such as corruption.

He said it was clear that a lot of money was lost due to financial crimes, adding that corruption itself had far-reaching negative consequences that included the funding of organised high-level crimes like drug and human trafficking as well as terrorism.

Ms Cecilia Ramatlapeng, the BICA vice president said that with Botswana having recently been placed on the list of high-risk countries by FATF, it was imperative that the country interrogated what that meant for its economy as well as come up with urgent mitigations and sustainable remedial action.

Calling on accountants to also play a role, Ms Ramatlapeng said members of the profession could not afford to be bystanders as they too, because of the nature of their jobs, had a proactive role to play in the fight against global financial crimes. ENDS