The Director General of GIABA, Mr Aba Kimelabalou, in a statement read on his behalf said that the financial sector and designated non-financial businesses and professions   (DNFBPs) play an important role in the socio- economic development of every country however complexities in the sector and the international nature of businesses make them vulnerable to risks of money laundering and terrorist financing.

He noted that to effectively address these risks, reporting these institutions are required to implement comprehensive Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) measures.
In order for the reporting institutions to comply, Mr Kimelabalou said that countries must adopt and implement well structured and effective AML/CFT regulations and supervision programs.

  In a speech read on his behalf, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mr Ernest Addison   said that the global financial sector regulation is increasingly tilting towards a Risk-Based Regulatory Approach which aims at identifying areas of high risk and initiating policies and strategies to manage them. He said that the approach will also ensure that less supervisory resources are committed towards regulated institutions with strong controls and structures for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism.

He disclosed that financial transactions in Ghana are mainly cash based with less identification systems making most financial institutions vulnerable to risks. The evolution of financial technology (fin-tech) he said, also poses a major money laundering risk due to easy access to digitized products and services.
"There is the need to allow digital financial services and fin-techs to develop while implementing robust AML/CFT regimes that adequately regulate digital financial services and activities of fin-techs.

Mr Kwaku Dua, Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Intelligence Center and GIABA National Correspondent said that the program will build the capacity of banks, security agencies and other regulators in the financial sector.
It will also build the capacity of licensed agencies to ensure that businesses and professions are not used for money laundering. This, he said, will help bring sanity into the financial sector and ensure an effective or robust AML/CFT regime.

He said that Ghana's National Risk Assessment in 2014 which was revised in 2018 indicated lapses in the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism supervisory regime.   One of the outcomes of that regime is to supervise, monitor,and regulate financial institutions.
Mr Dua said that Ghana is under observation and has been given action plans with timelines to be addressed which include enhancing risk-based supervisory capacity of regulators and launching a regular fora on mechanisms to facilitate communication between supervisors and the private sector.

The event saw the particpation of over 40 stakeholders from the five Anglophone countries in the Sub-Region: Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, The Gambia and Sierra Leone
Representatives from the International Monetary Fund - Regional Technical Assistance Center (RTAC) in West Africa (IMF AFRITAC West II) , GIABA Secretariat, GIZ,   Ministry of Gender and Social Protection and the media were also present.  The workshop was held  under the theme "Training the Trainers Workshop On Risk Based Supervision for AML/CFT compliance".