The Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) is a Regional Body subscribing to global standards to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism and proliferation. Its 21 Member Countries are Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe and includes a number of regional and international observers. Uganda is founding member of the ESAAMLG.

The main objectives of ESAAMLG are to:

a)   Adopt and implement the 40 Recommendations of the FATF;

b)   Apply anti-money laundering measures to all serious crime;

c)    Implement measures to combat the financing of terrorism and

d)   Implement any other measures contained in the multilateral agreements and initiatives relevant to prevention and control of laundering of proceeds of all serious crimes and the financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

For more information please visit the ESAAMLG website.

The Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units is an international organization that facilitates cooperation and intelligence sharing between national financial intelligence units to investigate and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. It’s a united body of over 176 Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) across the globe. The Egmont Group provides FIUs with a platform to securely exchange expertise and financial intelligence to combat money laundering, terrorist financing (ML/TF), and associated predicate offence.

The Egmont Group adds value to member FIUs’ work by improving stakeholders’ understanding of ML/TF risks and draws upon operational experience to inform policy considerations, including AML/CFT implementation and AML/CFT reforms. The Egmont Group is the operational arm of the international AML/CFT apparatus.

For more information please visit the Egmont Group website https://egmontgroup.org/.

ARIN-EA is an informal network which aims at informal exchange of information on individuals, assets and companies, at the regional and international level so as to facilitate the effective tracing and recovery of proceeds of crime and deprive criminals of their illicit gains.

ARIN-EA is the first informal network of practitioners in the Eastern Africa Region to tackle the proceeds of all crime. This is meant to increase the possibility of stopping criminals from enjoying the illegally acquired wealth.

For more information please visit the Egmont Group website https://www.eaaaca.com/about-arinea

Uganda’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/Combatting Financing of Terrorism (CFT) framework comprises of the laws and mechanisms put in place to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. This comprises of laws, policies, strategies, committees, legislation and guidance to address money laundering and terrorism financing.

The Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) through the FATF regional style bodies like the ESAAMLG continuously undertakes mutual evaluations and reviews follow-up reports by Uganda to assess the extent to which the country is implementing its standards.  The Mutual evaluation for Uganda and subsequent follow-up reports (FURs) re listed here below.

MUTUAL EVALUATION REPORT OF UGANDA-MAY 2016

The ESAAMLG Council of Ministers adopted the Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) of the Republic of Uganda on June 30, 2016 in line with The Procedures for ESAAMLG 2^nd Round of Mutual Evaluations and Follow-up Process. This is the Second Mutual Evaluation for Uganda to be conducted under the international standards on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation.

The Report Highlights the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) Measures that were in Place in Uganda at the time of the mutual evaluation. 

This Follow up Report (FUR) sets out Uganda's progress in strengthening anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing measures. Uganda has been in an enhanced follow-up process following the adoption of its Mutual Evaluation Report in 2016 by the ESAAMLG. In line with the ESAAMLG’s Second Round Procedures for Mutual Evaluations and Follow up Process, the country has been reporting back to the ESAAMLG on the actions it has taken since its September 2022 FUR. Uganda has made significant overall progress in resolving the technical compliance shortcomings identified in its MER and ratings for 5 Recommendations have been revised. The jurisdiction has addressed the deficiencies in respect of Recommendations 1 (PC), 24 (NC), and 27 (PC). The ESAAMLG upgraded the rating for R27 with Compliant (C) and the rest two with Largely Compliant (LC). In relation to Recommendations 7, 8 and 24 (initially rated NC), ESAAMLG agreed to re-rate Uganda with Partial Compliant (PC) since moderate shortcomings still remain on the three recommendations. Uganda will remain in enhanced follow-up and will continue to inform the ESAAMLG of the progress made in improving the implementation of its AML/CFT measures

Throughout the year the FIA actively participates in various international forums in the field of Anti-money Laundering, countering financing of Terrorism and criminal acts of funding the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The outline of the active participation of FIA and the Ugandan delegation in international AML/CFT forums is indicated here. 

Uganda’s international AML/CFT partners such as the FATF and Egmont Group continuously reviews money laundering and terrorist financing techniques, threats and advises countries on how to address new risks. Some of the key publications are listed here.