NIRA, FIA partner to tighten money laundering loopholes

A partnership between the Finance Intelligence Authority (FIA) and the National Identity Registration Authority (NIRA) is expected to help tighten the loopholes that partly enabled criminals to launder illicit money in and out of the country, officials have said.

FIA is a government agency responsible for the receipt and analysis of financial disclosures from accountable persons and dissemination of financial intelligence to competent authorities, such as the Police, Uganda Revenue Authority or the Inspectorate of Government.

According to the National Risk Assessment Report 2017 from FIA, the threat analysis concerning the financial sector presents a different degree of money laundering threat, with securities posing the lowest threat and other financial institutions, such as money lenders, money for value transfers and forex exchange the highest threat.  Banks pose a medium-high risk.

Money laundering is the concealment of the origins of illegally obtained money, typically by means of transfers involving foreign banks or legitimate businesses.

Sydney Asubo, the executive director of FIA, said they plan to tackle weaknesses in combating money laundering by strengthening government agency relations that the criminals and terrorists are exploiting.

"We have tools to help us analyse information. However, analysing that information and transforming it into useful information that can be relied on by other entities is what is most critical," Asubo said.

Under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, certain obligations are imposed on accountable persons, such as banks, to establish and verify the identity of their clients, to maintain records and report suspicious or large cash transactions.

According to FIA, the analysis of the threat at sectoral level and the analysis of the most common money laundering methods show that the real estate sector poses the highest money laundering threat. Investigations disclose that the perpetrators invest in or acquire real estate, both for their own benefit or for the generation of legitimate income.

Speedy verification

Stephen Kwiringira, the acting executive director at NIRA, said the authority has provided four electronic card readers as an interim measure for verification of information provided by persons interacting with FIA. 

The two government agencies plan to fully integrate their systems so as to enable the seamless agency to agency communication.

Asubo said FIA is currently working with the internal affairs ministry through the Directorate of Citizenship Immigration Control. This is aimed at identifying and verifying data of noncitizens working or staying in Uganda.