By KEVIN J KELLEY
Monday, October 29, 2012
International financial monitors ruled recently that Kenya “has taken significant steps” to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
But the country “has not made sufficient progress in implementing its action plan” regarding these issues, the monitors added.
That assessment earlier this month by the Financial Action Task Force at least temporarily lifts the threat of sanctions that the group had directed at Kenya in June.
The task force, which is sponsored by a grouping of developed countries, approvingly cited Kenya’s recent enactment of the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Capital Market (Amendment) Act.
Parliament’s passage of the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering (Amendment) Act and the Finance Bill was also noted in the task force’s new evaluation.
But the group cautioned that it has not had time to review Kenya’s initiatives “due to their very recent nature.”
A determination is not yet possible in regard to whether the laws adequately criminalise money laundering and terrorist financing, the task force said.
It listed seven additional criteria regarding the laws’ effectiveness that have not yet been assessed, including “identification and freezing of terrorist assets” and “enhancing financial transparency.”
While acknowledging Kenya’s “high-level political commitment” to cooperate with the task force, the latest evaluation concludes that the country “has not made sufficient progress in implementing its action plan within the agreed timelines.”
Source: Daily Nation