VICTORIA, Seychelles — Seychelles is now either compliant or largely compliant on 34 of the 40 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations, Secretary of State Patrick Payet announced on Monday, marking a significant improvement in the country’s anti-money laundering framework.
The new rating represents a substantial upgrade from the September 2018 Mutual Evaluation Report (MER), in which Seychelles was rated partially compliant on 16 recommendations and non-compliant on four. Mr. Payet, who chairs the National Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Committee, attributed the progress to a comprehensive new legal framework designed to address the deficiencies identified in earlier assessments.
Speaking during a regional training workshop in Beau Vallon, Mr. Payet said the AML/CFT Committee would continue to address the remaining six technical compliance shortcomings ahead of the 2024 ESAAMLG meetings. He added that continued engagement with ESAAMLG and other international partners would be critical to closing the final gaps.
The improvements cover areas including customer due diligence, transparency of beneficial ownership, supervision of financial institutions and the regulation of virtual asset service providers. New legislation on virtual assets, expected to be enacted by March 2024, is intended to bring the country’s framework fully into line with the FATF standards for that segment.
Seychelles’ progress has been welcomed by the private sector, which has long argued that a stronger compliance regime would help restore international confidence in the jurisdiction’s financial services industry. The Seychelles Financial Services Authority has also been restructured in recent years to bolster its supervisory capacity.
Despite the progress, the AML/CFT Committee has cautioned that the remaining six recommendations will require sustained political will and additional technical work. The committee plans to present a detailed roadmap to Cabinet in the first half of 2024.
Closing the final gaps will determine whether Seychelles can fully rejoin the community of well-regulated financial centres.
