Introduction
The Government of Suriname is committed to continuously improving its understanding of its Money Laundering (“ML”), Terrorism Financing (“TF”) and Proliferation Financing (“PF”) risks and is in the process of strengthening its AML/CTF framework and developing policies and strategies to effectively mitigate these risks.
Suriname’s second National Risk Assessment (“NRA 2.0”) built upon the conclusions identified in its first ever National Risk Assessment (“NRA 1.0”), which was supervised by the Organization of American States (“OAS”) and was conducted between 2019 and 2021. With the execution of NRA 2.0, Suriname is implementing its obligations under the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) Recommendation 1, which states that “Countries should identify, assess and understand the money laundering and terrorism financing risks to the country and take action, including designating an authority or mechanism to coordinate actions to assess risks, and dedicating resources aimed at ensuring that risks are effectively limited. Based on that assessment, countries should apply a risk-based approach (RBA) to ensure that measures to prevent or mitigate money laundering and terrorism financing are proportionate to the risks identified.”
The purpose of NRA 2.0, is to enable Suriname to increase its understanding of Money Laundering (“ML”) risk, including those related to legal persons. It also covers the areas of Terrorism Financing (“TF”) and Proliferation Financing (“PF”), which were not broadly covered in NRA 1.0. The NRA 2.0 covers the period from 2021 to 2023, with reference to recently implemented laws and regulations up to July 2024. This exercise and the resulting report serve as a means by which Suriname can identify, assess and understand its risks related to ML, TF and PF, and, using the NRA 2.0 as a basis, adopt a risk-based approach by prioritizing actions to mitigate or manage these risks as per FATF Recommendation 1.
Since the completion of NRA 1.0 a significant development in Suriname was the enactment of the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Act (“WMFT”), which was promulgated on 19 November 2022 and recent amendments to the Penal Code, which criminalize money laundering and terrorism financing. This legislation clarifies the roles of various bodies responsible for AML/CTF policy and grants them relevant additional powers to bring them in line with the requirements of the FATF Standards. Additionally, the law formally establishes and specifies the pivotal role of the establishment of an Anti- Money Laundering Steering Council (“ASC”), which acts as the national mechanism for coordinating measures to counter ML, TF and PF at the highest policy level. The ASC is ultimately responsible for the conclusions of NRA 2.0 and monitoring and delivering the related actions.