The National Authority for Financial Intelligence received in 2021 a total of 3,409 suspicious statements related to money laundering and terrorist financing cases.
The total of 3,363 of cases related to money laundering received in 2021 represents an increase of 59 percent compared to 2020, showed the report which was submitted to head of government Aziz Akhannouch on Friday.
The year 2021 was marked, according to the same document, by a significant development in operational indicators thanks to the measures taken by the National Financial Information Authority and the joint efforts with various partners concerned with combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
The number of processed files has witnessed a tangible development. This clearly indicates “strengthening cooperation with law enforcement authorities and supervisory and monitoring authorities,” the commission added.
The same year also saw an increase of 116 per cent in the number of requests received from national law enforcement authorities in the context of parallel financial investigations; In addition to a 33 percent increase in the number of information requests issued by the Authority to counterpart units.
These developments are the culmination of the Authority’s efforts to enhance its operational activities in coordination with national partners and subject persons.
During the year 2021, the commission also referred a total of 43 files to the prosecutor at the Court of First Instance in Rabat and to the public prosecutor.
The authority also focused on developing human resources through training workshops and multilateral meetings in coordination with partner supervisory and monitoring authorities.
During the same year, the Authority received 73 applications from counterpart units, compared to 74 applications in the previous year. Meanwhile, the number of automatic permits decreased by 7 percent during 2021 compared to 2020.
Information requests from European counterpart units accounted for 75 percent, equivalent to 55 requests received in 2021.
European counterpart units come first in terms of information exchange due to many factors; Including, in particular, the geographical proximity and linkage of the two financial systems.
The European continent is the first provider of automatic permits that were received during 2021 with 26 permits, which is equivalent to 65 percent of the total automatic permits received by the authority.
FIUs on the African continent come second, accounting for 10 percent of all requests. As in the past two years, the authority maintained during the year 2021 the same level of exchange with its African counterpart units.
The Asian continent comes in second place with 12 permits, representing 30 percent of the total automatic permits reached by the authority.
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