Senegal was officially removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list following a plenary meeting held on Friday in Paris, the Senegalese Ministry of Finance and Budget announced.
This withdrawal is a positive point for Senegal, which thus leaves the FATF grey list, also called the “list of jurisdictions under enhanced surveillance.”
This identifies countries whose regime for combating money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (AML/CFT/FP) has strategic deficiencies.
Registered in February 2021 on this list, the Senegalese government had committed to remedying the shortcomings identified by adopting an action plan composed of 29 initiatives and 49 measures. This process resulted in the presentation of nine follow-up reports and a summary report.
Following these documentary reviews, Senegal hosted from August 12 to 14, 2024 in Dakar, a mission of experts from the International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) of the FATF, under the chairmanship of the Minister of Finance and Budget, Cheikh Diba, in the presence of the Ministers of Justice and the Interior. The Ministry of Finance and Budget stressed that the removal of Senegal from the gray list is the result of collaborative work involving the highest authorities of the country.
“This action reinforces the positive institutional image of the country and strengthens, in the eyes of the investor community, the attractiveness of the national economy by ensuring a safer, more stable and more integrated financial system,” he added.
The State of Senegal, through the members of the National Coordination Committee for the Fight against Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism (CNC LBC/FT) and the National Financial Information Processing Unit (CENTIF), thanks the Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), the experts of the Africa and Middle East Group of the ICRG, the FATF, as well as the technical and financial partners for their support and trust during the implementation of the reforms.
ODL/te/fss/gik/APA