The Regional Workshop on ‘Compliance with International and EU Requirements concerning the FATF Recommendation 8’ took place on 22-24 November 2021, at Le Meridien Hotel in Mauritius.
It was organised by the EU Global Facility on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing in collaboration with the Ministry of Financial Services and Good Governance of Mauritius.
The workshop, which will run through Wednesday 24 November 2021, witnesses the participation of representatives from Mauritius, Panama, Madagascar, Bangladesh, the Seychelles, Tunisia, Jordan, Zambia, among others. It seeks to allow regulators from Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) and representatives of Financial Intelligence Units (FIU) to exchange best practices and challenges faced among themselves and with the EU and other states on the applied methodology, chosen policies and work undertaken to ensure compliance of their legislation and practice with FATF Recommendation 8 requirements.
The event will also provide a tangible opportunity to proceed with concrete steps to promote effective supervision of NPOs and ultimately assist in relevant mutual evaluation assessments in relation to the said recommendation by the participating states. On the last day of the workshop, the Global Facility will also present its recent research report titled “Typologies of the Illicit Financial Abuse of NPO Sector – Specificity, Complexity, Complicity and Harm”.
In his keynote address to the audience, Minister of Financial Services and Good Governance, Hon. Mahen Kumar Seeruttun thanked the EU Global Facility for its “unwavering support to Mauritius at all times,” noting that “the EU Global Facility has provided us with technical assistance whenever requested, providing us with the highest quality of support and experts.”
Team Leader of the EU Global Facility, David Hotte, congratulated Mauritian partners on the successful delisting from the FATF grey list in October 2021, saying “we are very proud to have contributed, along with other international partners like GIZ, the UK, IMF and the UN, among others, to the delisting of Mauritius and we will continue working together even after this milestone. It is only the beginning of a new and promising era.”
For his part, Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation, H.E. Vincent Degert, commended the government, civil servants and public sector of Mauritius, stating “the government has repeatedly expressed its wish to address all ESAAMLG recommendations and to improve all their immediate outcomes scores, thus to become a role model for many countries worldwide.”
“I can only felicitate this attitude as it is very important that the current momentum for reform is maintained, to make these achievements sustainable and far-reaching, building on the very relevant tools that were developed with the help of the EU Global Facility assistance and of the other international donors and continuing their capacity building to be able to reach concrete results.”
The workshop is part of a series of activities organised by the EU Global Facility in Mauritius from November 16 to 25th, 2021.
This project is funded by the European Union.