by Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
Mizinga Melu is right, know the law
The Financial Intelligence Centre Act No. 46 of 2010, as amended in 2016 and reporting guidelines developed, mandate reporting agencies to make a Suspicious Transactions Report( STR) and transactions of Politically Exposed Persons ( PEPs) who are considered high risk customers.
REPORTING ENTITIES
So Banks, Insurance, Pension, Law Firms, Zambia Revenue Authority, RTSA, Real Estate sector, Casino, Bureau de Change, and others are all mandated by the law to compile a report on suspicious transactions.
For banks, any transaction above $5,000 forms part of a report to the Financial Intelligence Centre and Anti-Money Laundering Unit or any amount that might fit the category of suspicion or that of PEPs.
Further, where a person in a business, which includes the owner, manager and/or employee of a business, suspects that a client is using funds that could possibly have been derived from unlawful activities, this must be reported to the FIC.
My concern has always been that FIC publishes the Trends Report based on these transactions.
Suspicious transactions are not necessarily criminal yet until Law Enforcement Agencies verify and establish crimes on the reports.
FIC is not a Law Enforcement Agency.
So the sentiments expressed by Mrs. Mizinga Melu are welcome and must be encouraged in the context of the law…and Politically Exposed Persons, now and before must not frustrate the law.
Further, the Law Enforcement Agencies must not be selective in the use and investigations to fight financial and money laundering crimes.
