Uganda’s Financial Intelligence Authority Unveils Strategy to Avoid Grey List

The Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) in Uganda has developed a strategy aimed at ensuring the country is not included on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list. The grey list is a list of countries that have been identified as having weaknesses in their anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) systems.

In February, the FATF plenary concluded that Uganda had fully implemented its action plan to address the identified deficiencies, and as a result, the country was removed from the grey list. However, Uganda was initially placed on the list in 2016 after a FATF assessment found weaknesses in its systems.

According to Bright Besigye, the manager of International Relations at FIA, the country was placed under an observation period that ended in 2019. During this period, Uganda made significant progress, including the amendment of the Terrorism Act to make terrorism financing a crime, increased training of law enforcement forces, and increased staffing of the financial intelligence unit.

Despite this progress, Uganda was still placed on the grey list in February 2020 due to a lack of effectiveness in implementing FATF standards. Besigye explained that being on the grey list has a significant impact on the country’s international business and access to foreign credit.

The Post Grey List Exit Strategy, developed through the ministry of Finance, aims to increase awareness about money laundering and terrorism financing activities among all stakeholders. The strategy also seeks to establish the National Money Laundering Safety Task Force under the minister of Finance to tackle financial crimes.

The FIA plans to build the capacity of other institutions, such as the Uganda Police, the ministry of Internal Affairs, the judiciary, and Bank of Uganda, to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism crimes. The authority also aims to develop a successor strategy for the current FIA Strategic Plan, which expires in 2025.

Uganda will undergo another mutual evaluation by the FATF in 2028, and the FIA believes that the Post Exit Grey List Strategy will enable the country to pass the assessment and avoid being placed back on the grey list.

"We are striving to meet the minimum standards, apply the right measures, evolve as the crimes evolve, and work with an all-government approach to deal with the crimes in their entirety," Besigye noted.