An Assessment Of The Economic Effects Of Anti-Money Laundering In Namibia

ABSTRACT

This study provided comprehensive details and assessment on the economic effects of antimoney laundering in Namibia. The mixed method was used to describe and analyse money laundering and financing terrorism in Namibia. The study also used a regression model to analyse the effect of money laundering on the economy. The topic is vital with regards to the main findings that revealed that money-laundered negatively affects economic growth. Corruption and tax evasion were identified as the biggest contributors to the problem. The discussion on the effective implementation of the Financial Action Task Force recommendations were performed. There is therefore a low rate of successful prosecution and convictions on money laundering in Namibia. Namibia has shown significant improvement since the previous mutual evaluation in 2005. The country has also shown commitment in preparation for the upcoming mutual evaluation in 2020. The areas that require improvement relate to the prosecution and convictions on money laundering offenses. Overall, there are significant cases of money laundering in Namibia, and legislations in that regard are already in place. Various cases on money laundering are discussed to provide an overview of the problem, as well as effectiveness of the combating systems and mechanisms. The study provided the statistics mainly from the Financial Intelligence Centre as an overview of the magnitude of the suspicious transaction and activity reports involving money laundering. The risk is noted on the statistics regarding the electronic and international fund transfer and cash transaction reports, which gives an overview and magnitude of the financial flows within financial institutions. Overall, Namibia seems to be in a progressive system to address threats and vulnerabilities; however, there are gaps that negatively impede the effectiveness of the national anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism.