Ghana has officially been removed from the European Union’s list of money laundering and terrorist financing countries, President Nana Akufo-Addo has said.
The European Union (EU) in May 2021 announced plans to take off Ghana from its list during Akufo-Addo’s two-day working visit to Brussels, Belgium.
This EU explained was the acknowledgement of the efforts Ghana has made in implementing the action plan of the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) in record time.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the President of Hungary at the Jubilee House on Thursday, January 13, 2022, he disclosed the notification was received on January 7, 2022.
“We are delighted that, on 7th January 2022, we received a notification from the European Commission, through the intermediary of the Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, Mairead McGuinness, that Ghana, after the pursuit of some rigorous reforms, has now, formally, been removed from the Grey List of high-risk third countries in money laundering activities,” he announced.
Ghana was in May 2020, cited by the European Commission for anti-money laundering and terrorism financing concerns together with three other African countries including Botswana, Mauritius and Zimbabwe.
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They were all subjected to financial transaction scrutiny.
A report by the Commission said the findings were part of a comprehensive approach to further strengthen the EU’s fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
Other countries that were listed were Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Cambodia, Mongolia and Myanmar.
The listed countries were identified after a systematic assessment of their integrity of the EU financial system by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In order for them to be delisted, the affected countries were to show a strong commitment to addressing the menace.