According to the state for finance of Seychelles, the government has taken a new step to strengthen the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, as it prepares to present a stronger bill against the act to the National Assembly for approval in February. The proposed law is aimed to establish a collaboration between the Registrar General responsible for companies’ registration and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) for effective identification and investigation of suspicious transactions. The Secretary of the state for finance, Patrick Payet pointed out the need for Seychelles to comply with the recommendations of the financial task force of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group, saying the country has only complied partially with only half of the 40 recommendations given by the Group. He added that Non-Profit organizations could be the next route for money laundering if necessary, the action is not taken.
Although the country is currently taking significant steps to strengthen its laws and regulations on money-laundering and terrorist financing. However, it is still faced with several challenges, one of which is that the tax laws of Seychelles and International Business Companies (IBC) do not comply with IBC to audit their accounts, but there is a plan to address this soon. The National Committee for Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Countering prepared a law in April 2019 and met the National Assembly as part of the plan to strengthen the AML/CFT framework, and is expected to be presented to the house in February. Payet added any bank that does not comply will face severe penalties. Seychelles has requested a rerating from the financial task force saying that the country is working tirelessly to address the shortcomings in its compliance with the law and hope for improvement in the rating by September.
