{"id":1108,"date":"2017-03-28T09:50:45","date_gmt":"2017-03-28T07:50:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.namfisa.com.na\/educates\/?p=1108"},"modified":"2025-07-21T16:29:52","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T14:29:52","slug":"anti-money-laundering-consumer-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.namfisa.com.na\/educates\/anti-money-laundering-consumer-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-Money Laundering: Consumer Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Why are financial and other institutions asking so many questions these days?<\/h3><\/span><\/div>
Whether opening a bank account, buying property or a car, taking out insurance policies, making an investment, taking out a loan or sending money overseas, the same information (and a copy of identification) is asked of the consumer over and over again. In some instances, different divisions of the same bank will ask the same information of their clients, depending on the type of transaction that the client is conducting, such as buying a house, car, unit trusts or taking out a loan. Consumers are also required to disclose to the institution where the money for the particular transactions is coming from. The most common response from consumers is \u201cWhy?\u201d Either that or \u201cit\u2019s none of your business!\u201d\n

\nConsumers should realise that all financial institutions and businesses mentioned under Schedule 1 and 3 of the Financial Intelligence Act, 2012 (Act No. 13 of 2012)(the FIA) are obligated under that Act to ask all these questions and to record certain information regarding their clients. The purpose of the FIA is to combat the crimes of money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the financing and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction \u2013 global crimes these days. The obligation for all countries to combat these crimes derives from certain United Nations Conventions and certain United Nations Security Council Resolutions.<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE ACT, 2012<\/h3><\/div>
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SCHEDULE 3: REPORTING INSTITUTIONS<\/h3><\/div>
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Section 2<\/h3><\/div>
1 A person or institution who carries on the business of a motor vehicle dealership.\n
\n2 A person who carries on the business of secondhand goods.\n
\n3 A person who carries on the business of a gambling house, a totalisator or bookmaker.\n
\n4 A person or entity who carries on the business of trading in jewellery, antiques or art.\n
\n5 Any person or entity regulated by the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA) who conducts as a business one or more of the following activities \u2013 Short term insurer.\n
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WHAT IS MONEY LAUNDERING?<\/h3><\/span><\/div>
Money laundering is the process whereby criminals take the money they make from their criminal activities and perform numerous transactions with it so that it seems at the oldest end as if that money was made from legitimate activities.\n
\nE.g. buy a house and selling the house after a short period; take the same money to buy shares and sell the shares after a while; take the same money and buy something else just to sell it again. In this process of buying and selling, the \u201cillegal footprints\u201d of the money are wiped away.\n
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WHY SHOULD WE FIGHT MONEY LAUNDERING?<\/h3><\/span><\/div>
Crime, especially organised crime, has become difficult to combat worldwide. Crime has a negative impact on society and on the economy. Crimes such as drug trafficking, human trafficking and organised prostitution erodes the very fabric of society.\n
\nMoney is power, and when criminals are in charge of a country\u2019s economy, the economy becomes highly cash-based and the inflation rate is very high. Countries that do not combat money laundering and financing of terrorism are regarded as posing a risk to the international financial system, which leads to such countries losing investors and other countries being reluctant to trade with them.<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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WHAT IS FINANCING OR FUNDING OF TERRORISM?<\/h3><\/span><\/div>
This crime involves any kind of assistance, including financial, to persons or groups engaged in terrorist activities \u2013 activities which cause serious injury or death to people or serious damage to public and private property in order to force a government\u2019s hand.<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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WHY SHOULD WE COMBAT FINANCING\/FUNDING OF TERRORISM?<\/h3><\/span><\/div>
Terrorist activities cause devastation and impacts innocent citizens, displacing families and leaving children as orphans.\n
\nIn order to comply with United Nations\u2019 conventions in combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, Namibia has passed the following laws:\n
\n\u2022 The Prevention of Organised Crime Act, 2004 (Act No. 29 of 2004) (POCA), which makes money laundering a crime;\n
\n\u2022 The Financial Intelligence Act, 2012 (Act No. 13 of 2012)(FIA), which places certain obligations on certain financial institutions and other businesses in order to prevent criminals from abusing those businesses for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes; and\n
\n\u2022 The Prevention and Combating of Terrorist and Proliferation Activities Act, 2014 (Act No. 4 of 2014)(PACOTPAA), which makes terrorism, the financing of terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destructions and the financing of proliferation criminal offences.\n
\nIn terms of the Financial Intelligence Act of 2012, all businesses and institutions mentioned in Schedule 1 and 3 of that Act have, amongst other things, the following legal obligations:\n
\n\u2022 To identify their clients in line with the requirements of the Act and its Regulations;\n
\n\u2022 To keep certain records regarding information on their clients, in line with the requirements of the Act and its Regulations; and\n
\n\u2022 To report suspicious transactions or activities in line with the requirements of the Act and its Regulations.\n
\nIdentification information may include: full names, nationality, national ID number\/passport number\/ date of birth (with a copy of identification), address, contact particulars, occupation, source of income, nature of business activities (if any), the source of funds involved in this particular transaction, and so on.\n
\nA full record must also be kept of such information.<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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CONSUMER EDUCATION BULLETIN 14<\/h3><\/span><\/div>
Failure by these businesses and institutions to comply with the abovementioned obligations is a criminal offence and the persons responsible for such businesses and institutions, if found guilty, may be fined a maximum of N$100 million, 30 years\u2019 imprisonment or both.\n
\nIt is therefore in the best interest of these businesses to comply with the FIA and to obtain the required identification and other information from their clients.\n
\nClients who refuse to give the required information may be regarded as acting suspiciously and these businesses can either refuse to do any further business with the client or to report the client\u2019s suspicious behaviour to the Financial Intelligence Centre to take further action.\n
\nThe general public is therefore requested to cooperate with all these businesses and institutions and to provide the information as required by the Financial Intelligence Act and its Regulations.\n
\nBy Njeri Mwangi\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAsk ChatGPT\n<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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