The Gambian minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Abdou Colley, has informed a sub-regional conference in Banjul that the Gambia Government has set up a unit at the Central Bank of the Gambia to monitor suspicious financial transactions with a view to combating money laundering in The Gambia.
The two-day conference is on the role of Insurance Companies in fighting money laundering and other financial crimes.
The sub regional workshop is organized by the West Africa Insurance Companies’ Association in collaboration with the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA).
Colley stated that money laundering disrupts the overall economic development of a nation ; adding that it is not enough to put robust legislation to fight it, but that it is important for those in the financial sector to report suspicious financial transactions to the authorities whenever they are detected.
The president of The Gambia Insurance Companies’ Association, Dawda Sarge, said the theme for the conference is apt given the spate and growing number of financial and economic crimes that continue to threaten the decency and integrity of the African Society.
The Gambia enacted Anti Terrorism Law in 2003 ; this needs some improvement if it is to meet the required international standards for such legislation, he added.
Source African Press Agency
