Luanda, Nov. 28, 2024 (Lusa) - The Angolan parliament on Thursday approved changes to the law on the designation and execution of international legal acts to combat practices linked to terrorist financing, as recommended by the Financial Action Task Force (GAFI).
This piece of legislation, an initiative of the Angolan government, was approved in the first reading vote and unanimously during the extraordinary plenary meeting of the parliament.
The Financial Action Task Force leads global action to tackle money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing.
The purpose of the legislative initiative is to establish the system of attributions and competences in terms of the designation, removal and internal or international exemption of people, groups and entities for the application of measures to combat terrorism, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Angola's minister for justice and human rights, Marcy Lopes, who presented the bill in parliament, emphasised that its updating is aimed at complying with a guideline from the GAFI "resulting from the assessment that the country was subjected to a few years ago".
According to the minister, the law also aims to define and operationalise "more efficient mechanisms for implementing targeted financial sanctions".
For Benedito Daniel, a member of parliament from the opposition Social Renewal Party (PRS), the amendment to this law "is another fundamental step towards strengthening the stability of the national financial system".
Amélia Pinto, a member of parliament from the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), said that the measure was an essential political instrument that would guide national bodies in strengthening the compliance and effectiveness of the national anti-money laundering system.
The parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA, the largest opposition party) was represented by Custódio Kamuango, who pointed out the importance of the law and questioned the effectiveness of the anti-money laundering system given Angola's presence on the GAFI's "grey list".
Marcy Lopes, responding to the UNITA MP, said that Angola's presence on the "grey list" of reinforced monitoring - announced at the end of last October - obliges the state to adopt a series of procedures from this body.
The minister pointed to the recent approval of a presidential decree approving the organic statute of the Institute for the Supervision of Community Activities, "a body with the purpose of monitoring and supervising the activities of associations and non-governmental organisations," as one of several legislative actions in response to the GAFI's recommendations.
The MPs also unanimously approved the draft bill to amend the law on the Ombudsman's Office in order to bring its organisation and functioning into line with the Angolan Constitution and legal system.
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