GIABA Holds 20th Plenary Meeting Of Technical Commission In Cotonou

By TheNigerianVoice-TNV
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The Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) will hold the 20th Plenary Meeting of its Technical Commission (TC) in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, from 4th to 7 November 2013.

The GIABA Plenary meetings bring together several experts from GIABA line ministries in member States (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Security and Ministry of Justice) and technical partners.

The 20th Plenary of the GIABA TC will host several meetings, including that of the Working Group on Mutual Evaluation and Implementation, which is mandated to discuss the follow-up reports on the Mutual Evaluation Reports of Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia and Sierra Leone.

The Plenary will particularly consider reports to be presented on the implementation of AML/CFT measures in Guinea and Liberia.

Having completed the first round of the Mutual Evaluation exercise in 2012, the GIABA Technical Commission will assess the process of such evaluations and also review the timing and strategy to be adopted for the second round of the said exercise.

It should be noted that the second round of mutual evaluation will be based on a new methodology deriving from the FATF Recommendations as revised in February 2012.

In tandem with the Plenary meeting in Cotonou, a close session of the Regional Forum of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), and the Forum coordinating Technical Assistance provided to member States by donors will be held.

The opening address of the 20th Plenary Meeting will be delivered by Hon. Jonas GBIAN, Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Benin. The Director General of GIABA, Dr Abdullahi Shehu, will also present his half-yearly progress report.