Luanda, Sept. 29, 2026 (Lusa) - The Angolan Insurance Regulation and Supervision Agency (ARSEG) on Tuesday urged insurers and fund managers to commit to implementing the law on identifying beneficiaries to promote financial integrity.
ARSEG's chair, Filomena Manjata, highlighted the importance of knowing who is behind a corporate structure during the opening of a workshop in Luanda on the «Impact of the Beneficial Ownership Act on Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Fund Management».
In her view, the effective implementation of the legal framework on beneficial ownership «is a shared responsibility that requires commitment to protect the integrity of the national financial system».
She said Angola was strengthening its legal framework on transparency and the prevention and combating of money laundering, and that this framework, approved in August, is an important step in this process.
Legal entities play an essential role in the economy. However, she noted, complex corporate structures can also be used to obscure who actually owns, controls or benefits from certain activities, making it easier to identify the source and destination of funds.
«This is precisely why transparency regarding the beneficial ownership regime has become a central detail of international standards for the prevention of financial crimes,» said Filomena Manjata.
Knowing who is behind the funds, she noted, also means protecting the institution, protecting the market and, ultimately, protecting the integrity of the national financial system.
She noted that the effective implementation of this regime is a shared responsibility; it requires knowledge, cooperation, commitment «and, above all, the ability to translate these legal requirements into effective risk management and prevention practices».
The Beneficial Owner Act establishes the legal framework for identifying, registering, retaining, updating and disclosing information on the beneficial owners of legal persons and other entities without legal personality.
The legislation, adopted in accordance with the recommendations of the Eastern and Southern African Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG), requires banks, insurance companies, financial intermediaries and other covered entities to disclose who effectively controls them and establishes the Beneficial Owner Register to cross-check information.
Furthermore, the chair of ARSEG emphasised that this matter is particularly important to Angola, given the results of the risk assessment of legal entities and legal arrangements, as well as the recommendations arising from the mutual evaluation carried out by ESAAMLG.
«The response [to identifying the beneficial owner] must go beyond the existence of legislation. We need to translate the law into practice and turn formal compliance into a genuine capacity for prevention», she stressed.
Filomena Manjata also urged insurance and reinsurance companies, pension fund management companies and other entities covered by the regulations to ensure the proper identification and updating of information on beneficial owners.
She concluded by reaffirming ARSEG's commitment to an insurance and pension fund market that is «more transparent, ethical, sound, reliable and impervious» to issues of money laundering and terrorist financing.
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