Dec 20, 2011 at 2:58pm

http://www.citifmonline.com/index.php?id=1.707844

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has said it will punish any capital market operator that fails to abide by a compliance manual expected to guard against anti-money laundering activities.

The Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing Terrorism compliance manual was officially launched on Tuesday.

This will get market operators such as brokers, investment advisors, the Ghana Stock Exchange among others to strictly abide by the manual which will track any suspicious deals relating to money laundering and financing of terrorism.

In an interview with Citi Business News, the Director-General of SEC, Adu Anane Antwi said his outfit will ensure the actors comply strictly with the manual.

“Every rule or regulations that the SEC comes out with also has penalties for non-compliance or delay in reporting and they may come in administrative form, where the offender will be asked to pay a fine or in suspension,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Mr. Antwi is optimistic that the compliance manuals will immune institutions from such criminals.

“Anti-money laundering is very critical especially now that the Ghanaian economy is opening up. We are getting more investors in the country and oil discovery is bringing more money into the system. It is critical to make sure that whatever is coming in is coming from the right source,” he insisted.

He also cautioned that if such practices were not monitored, Ghana could be blacklisted for permitting illegal fiscal dealings.