Mozambique: Government expects to avoid payment system sanctions

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Mozambique: Government expects to avoid payment system sanctions

6:23 CAT | 31 Jul 2023

File photo: Lusa

Mozambique’s government said on Monday that it expects the country to escape sanctions on its electronic payment system after having presented on 28 July the report containing the necessary advances to get off the international grey list.

“This possibility is far away, to have ‘credit cards blocked'”, Luís Cezerilo, deputy director general of the Financial Intelligence Office of Mozambique (GIFIM), told Lusa.

Cezerilo based his confidence on the “progress” that the Mozambican authorities present in the report submitted on 28 July to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an institution that placed Mozambique on the so-called grey list – a technical classification resulting from the finding of deficiencies in the system to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

“Mozambique has made progress. This progress is significant,” he emphasised.

Last week, Luís Cezerilo told Lusa that the government expects the country to leave the FATF “grey list” by the first half of 2024, pointing out that it has made “enormous progress” in removing this negative classification.

READ: Mozambique: State hopes to exit FATF grey list by H1 2024

“What we are going to do this year is to demonstrate to the FATF that, both in terms of compliance and effectiveness, we have already made enormous progress, and in the next session in March or April 2024, the window will open,” for the removal of Mozambique’s name from the grey list, said Luís Cezerilo.

Cezerilo pointed to the government’s approval of proposals to revise the money laundering and terrorist financing laws and the already planned approval of the respective regulations as important advances that the country has already made in conforming the regulatory framework to the recommendations given by the FATF.

On the other hand, he continued, the authorities are working to have a tax forfeiture law and a beneficial owner statute soon as part of the roadmap to remove the country from the grey list, where it was included in October 2022.

In February this year, the World Bank warned the Mozambican authorities of difficulties in accessing markets due to the country being on the international “grey list” of money laundering and terrorist financing risks.

“Getting off the list is necessary to promote access to international financial markets, continue to attract foreign investment and participate in international trade,” said Julian Casal, the World Bank’s financial sector specialist at the time.

Source: Lusa