CBS and ACCS enhance cooperation through MoU |30 March 2021
The Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) and the Anti-Corruption Commission Seychelles (ACCS) have formalised their engagement for mutual cooperation, assistance and exchange of information through the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU).
The MoU was signed this morning at the CBS building by the governor, Caroline Abel and chief executive of the ACCS, May De Silva.
This step seeks to foster greater collaboration between the two institutions as part of their respective commitment to ensure compliance with relevant national laws and international standards, as well as to assist national efforts in the fight against corruption and money laundering.
It is to be noted that both CBS and ACCS are part of the National Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Committee (NAC), which brings the relevant regulatory, supervisory and law enforcement bodies together for effective coordination and efficient exchange of information.
“We cannot be complacent in our fight against illegal conducts and practices such as corruption and money laundering that have the potential to affect our financial institutions and the integrity of the country’s financial system and these efforts are even more important with the possibility for new threats and vulnerabilities to arise during times of crisis like the one we are currently experiencing. In all of this, coordination is paramount as we aim to attain our objectives as individual institutions and also at the national level, if the country is to succeed in the fight against such criminal activities,” said Ms Abel, highlighting that this is the second such MoU that CBS has signed, following the one inked in September last year with the Financial Services Authority and Financial Intelligence Unit.
For her part the CEO of ACCS, Ms De Silva said: “Our financial and law enforcement institutions can no longer work in silos and continue with a territorial mindset. This MoU will provide a framework to strengthen an existing working relationship that ACCS has had with CBS. The National AML/CFT Committee has worked tirelessly since its formal inception in February 2019 and this MoU is an extension of cooperation between members of the committee. This is our sixth MoU since we’ve started this exercise to coordinate the fight against corruption, money laundering and financing of terrorism.”
This is the first MoU between CBS and ACCS. Aside of exchange of information, it is expected to strengthen cooperation in the areas of investigation in money laundering and corruption cases, sharing of experiences, training, identification of risks and proposals to improve the legal frameworks where relevant or required, among other areas of mutual interest.
The MoU is being made publicly available on the websites of both the CBS and ACCS: https://www.cbs.sc/AMLCFT/Publications.html
Joint CBS/ACCS press release