Imaan Abdullah presented on the Financial Intelligence (Amendments) Act (date of commencement being 29 June 2018).
The Financial Intelligence Act was passed to steer Botswana toward combatting financial crimes, in particular, Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism. The amendments to the Act have been put in place in order to provide more stringent and efficient mechanisms towards achieving the objective of the Act.
The amendments to the Act introduce, among others, (i) stringent penalties for non-compliance of the Act (ii) wider obligations on a “Specified Party” (iii) the introduction of an “Accountable Institution”, (iv) a broader definition of a “Suspicious Transaction” and (v) continuing obligations of a compliance officer and qualifications for a compliance officer.
