News Detail

The Malawi Parliament passed the Financial Crimes Bill into law on Wednesday, 8 February 2017 The enactment of the Financial Crimes Act repeals the Money Laundering, Proceeds of Serious Crime and Terrorist Financing Act. The new Act creates the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) as a principal national agency responsible for preventing and combating financial crimes. Apart from performing FIU functions, the Act empowers the FIA to investigate criminal proceeds relating to money laundering and terrorist financing. This is a big milestone in the country as, among others, the law criminalises self-laundering and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, imposes heavy penalties on money laundering and terrorist financing, and provides for administrative sanctions for non-compliant financial institutions. UReacting to the development, Director General of the FIU, Mrs. Atuweni Juwayeyi-Agbermodji, said she was in ecstatic mood following the passing of Financial Crimes Bill in Parliament on Wednesday, 8 February, at exactly 18.15 hours Central African Time. The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, honourable Samuel Tembenu SC, said the offences that have been criminalised in the Act have the potential to ruin the country’s economy and reputation hence there was a need to have penalties that are both punitive and dissuasive. Review of the Anti-Money Laundering law in Malawi was recommended by the World Bank in 2008 during the Mutual Evaluation of the country’s implementation of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Standards.