Dr. Johnson Asiama, the Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana has disclosed that the central bank would soon publish its new sanctions for non-compliance with provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2014 (Act 874).

According to Dr. Asiama, publishing the sanctions is in line with the amended Act which gives the BoG the authority to apply sanctions per its supervisory role.

The new anti-money laundering Act was passed in 2014 to remedy some deficiencies identified in the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2008 (Act 749).

The new Act extends the application of Act 749, and expands the scope of actions that can be taken under the Act and provides for related matters and includes the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in its definition of unlawful activities and the new predicate offence – tax offence.

The Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Johnson Asiama, at a risk summit, said the central bank would soon announce the sanctions which is expected to ensure full compliance of money laundering regulations.

“The Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2014 (Act 874) included the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in its definition of unlawful activities and the new predicate offence - tax offence. It expanded the Customer Due Diligence framework which is the bedrock of sound anti-money laundering regime. The Act also gives the mandate to supervisory authorities to apply administrative sanctions, and the Bank of Ghana will soon publish its sanctions for non-compliance with provisions of the Act.”

He said the new anti-money laundering Act which was passed in 2014 to remedy some deficiencies identified with the old Act. It also expands the Customer Due Diligence framework, which is the bedrock of sound anti-money laundering regime.

The Act also gives the mandate to supervisory authorities to apply administrative sanctions.

The Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2014 (Act 874) is an act to amend the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2008 (Act 749) to extend the application of Act 749 to expand the scope of actions that can be taken under the Act and to provide for related matters.