Zambia admitted as member of Egmont Group

Zambia has been admitted as a member of the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.

This follows the endorsement made by heads of Global Financial Intelligence Units (FIU’s). The confirmation of membership was made at the 25^th plenary of the Egmont Group, recently held in Sydney, Australia at which Zambia was represented by Financial Intelligence Centre Director General, Mary Tshuma.

For the last four years, Zambia’s application to become a member of Egmont Group as required by the global Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism standards, has been under rigorous assessment.

And Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe has welcomed the development describing it as a positive milestone for the country.

Mrs Mwanakatwe has attributed Zambia’s admission to the state sponsored fight against crimes, targeted at ensuring that the country’s fiscal governance systems not only attain global benchmarking, but also enhance information sharing with international institutions entrusted with similar responsibility.

She says admittance to the Egmont Group is also expected to improve investor confidence in Zambia’s financials system and its attendant Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism Regime.

The Minister adds that Zambia’s membership to the Egmont Group becomes an addition to the positive attributes that international rating agencies look out for in assigning a sovereign credit rating to a country.

The Egmont Group is an international network with 160 global Financial Intelligence Units as members. It’s designed to improve interaction among FIUs in the areas of communications, information sharing, and training coordination.

This is contained in a statement issued by ministry of Finance Public Relations Officer Chileshe Kandeta.