Maputo, 05 Oct (AIM) – The Mozambican Insurance Supervision Institution (ISSM) has joined the Bank Supervision Application (BSA), an international system that aims to monitor the insurance market in order to better combat money laundering, terrorism financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
According to the deputy minister of Economy and Finance, Carla Louveira, speaking recently at an event held in Maputo, aimed to discuss bank supervision in Mozambique, the BSA will improve the functioning of the Mozambican insurance sector.
“Although the BSA was designed for bank supervision, its functions may be applied in the insurance market, offering various advantages and important benefits”, Louveira said.
In 2022, Mozambique was placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) “grey list” for showing weaknesses in the fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism.
Mozambique’s joining the BSA is possibly one of the measures taken by the government to remove the country from the “grey list”, after the Ministry of Economy and Finance submitted to FATF, in March of the current year, its first assessment of the steps taken to come off the list.
The system in question, Louveira said, improves the analysis of advanced data and provides real time monitoring and safe sharing of information. It also improves risk and crisis management and responds to emergencies.
The ISSM, the Deputy Minister explained, joined the BSA in the context of the improvement and modernization of information systems in the insurance sector.
For her part, the ISSM Chairperson, Ester dos Santos José, said that joining the BSA is relevant as it will improve the communication and information sharing between the regulator and the supervised entities.
“It is a web system to monitor and supervise bank institutions but with applications in the insurance sector”, she said.
Benedita Guimino, administrator for Financial Stability at the Bank of Mozambique, explained that the BSA was created in 2003 as a collective initiative of ten central banks from the southern and eastern Africa, aiming to harmonize the functions of regulatory entities and guarantee the security and solidity of their operations.
She also said that the Bank of Mozambique leads the initiative and “and we are sure that BSA will contribute significantly.”
(AIM)
Ad/pf (369)
