By: Robert Kwaku Annor
The
Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), Kwadwo
Twum-Boafo, has called on telecommunication companies to strengthen their
compliance with anti-money laundering regulations to curb the growing use of
mobile money platforms for illegal financial transactions.
Speaking
on TV3’s Hot Issues on Sunday, November 9, Mr. Twum-Boafo expressed
concern that the tightening of financial regulations within the banking sector
has pushed individuals involved in suspicious financial activities to exploit
mobile money services instead.
He
noted that while banks have significantly improved their regulatory frameworks
under the oversight of the Bank of Ghana, the same level of compliance is yet
to be achieved within the telecommunications sector. “The banks have
tightened their regulations. The Fintech and Innovations Department of the Bank
of Ghana and the Financial Stability Department are very strict on financial
transactions,” he said, adding that even third-party cheques and foreign
currency transfers are now closely monitored.
According
to him, the virtual nature of mobile money platforms makes them more attractive
for money launderers due to the difficulty in monitoring transactions. “The
platform that most of them use will be the mobile money platform, which is more
or less virtual. As for virtual assets, it is more difficult to monitor,”
he stated.
Mr.
Twum-Boafo revealed that the FIC has the capacity to freeze mobile money
accounts linked to suspicious activity but stressed that full cooperation from
telecommunication operators is essential. “We are able to freeze mobile
money accounts. They are enjoined to be compliant, but them being fully
compliant—that’s another discussion for another day,” he remarked.
He
commended banks for their strict adherence to financial regulations and urged
telecom operators to adopt a similar proactive approach to compliance. “I
talked about the front-foot approach that we need, and they in particular are
not in compliance as much as I would like. The banks are, but Telcos, no,” he
emphasized.
Mr.
Twum-Boafo reiterated that enhancing compliance in the mobile money sector is
crucial to safeguarding Ghana’s financial ecosystem and maintaining the
integrity of digital financial services.
