In its quest to establish increased transparency, Morocco is pulling out all the stops, however, to achieve this, it still has work to do. In its 2024 annual report, the Basel Institute for Governance ranked Morocco 95th globally out of 164 countries in the Anti-Money Laundering Index, with a risk score of 4.94, lower to the global average of 5.45. The higher the score, the greater the risks associated with money laundering and terrorist financing.
According to the report, Morocco has made giant strides in technical compliance with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards, including strengthening the legal and regulatory framework to combat money laundering and financing. of terrorism. However, significant challenges remain to ensure real effectiveness in the application of these measures on the ground.
This disparity between technical compliance and practical effectiveness reflects a global trend highlighted in the report, which indicates that the overall effectiveness rate of measures has stagnated at just 28%.
The said report highlights the importance of strengthening financial transparency and fighting corruption as a key step to reducing the risks of money laundering in Morocco. Despite efforts to improve the regulatory framework, the lack of transparency regarding beneficial ownership of companies remains a major challenge. This point is ranked among the lowest globally, with an efficiency rate of only 21%.
In order to overcome these challenges, the report urges the kingdom to improve its financial control systems and strengthen the independence of the judiciary to ensure more rigorous application of the laws.
Speaking of the MENA region, Morocco ranks 9th regionally in the Basel 2024 Anti-Money Laundering Index, ahead of countries like Tunisia and Jordan, but still behind the United Arab Emirates and Qatar .
Globally, countries like Finland, Iceland and San Marino are dethroning competitors. They performed the best, occupying the top three spots with the lowest risk scores. This position reflects high levels of financial transparency and efficiency in the application of anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing systems.
In contrast, Myanmar tops the list of at-risk countries with a score of 8.92, followed by Haiti with 8.85 and the Democratic Republic of Congo with 8.65. These high rates indicate serious gaps in the legal and regulatory frameworks of these countries, as well as low effectiveness of the measures taken to combat financial crimes.
One of the new areas addressed by the report is the integration of fraud indicators into the risk assessment methodology this year. The Basel Institute emphasizes that “fraud is a growing threat fueling money laundering, particularly in large economies and major financial centers”. Although Morocco is not among the countries with large financial centers, the report urges the establishment of effective national strategies to deal with this emerging threat.
The report reiterates that the fight against money laundering is not a simple technical issue, but is directly linked to the achievement of broader objectives, including justice, the rule of law and sustainable development . To achieve these objectives, it calls on Morocco to adopt a comprehensive approach taking into account the social, political and legal dimensions of financial crimes.
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