WORKSHOPS ON MONEY LAUNDERING FOR ACCOUNTANTS IN MALAWI

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) conducted two workshops in Blantyre and Lilongwe in March 2006 to educate Malawian accountants on money laundering and terrorist financing. The workshops highlighted Malawi's vulnerability due to its cash-dominated economy and the prevalence of corruption. Participants urged the government to pass the pending anti-money laundering bill, establish an autonomous financial intelligence unit, and engage the judiciary to ensure the law's effectiveness. While generally well-received, participants called for better preparation and more localized practical examples in future sessions.

• Malawi has been working toward anti-money laundering legislation since 2003 and ratified the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC) on 17 March 2005. By March 2006, the government was preparing to present a bill against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, which aims to criminalise these activities, create new institutional infrastructure for detection, and impose obligations on financial intermediaries.
• Corruption is identified as the most visible criminal activity linked to money laundering in Malawi. The Director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau noted that judicial conservatism presents a challenge in tackling corruption, suggesting a need for increased judicial awareness regarding economic crime and money laundering.
• Malawi's status as a cash-dominated economy makes it particularly vulnerable to money laundering because many transactions occur outside of regulated sectors that maintain records. While unexplained wealth is common, it rarely triggers investigations into economic crime or corruption, despite the Corrupt Practices Act allowing the Anti-Corruption Bureau to use unexplained wealth as evidence.
• Workshop participants emphasized the urgent need for the anti-money laundering bill to become law and suggested that its quality be measured against UNTOC standards. They recommended the establishment of an autonomous agency to track and analyse information—similar to the proposed financial intelligence unit—which could be part of the Anti-Corruption Bureau but should remain separate from the central bank.
• Participants expressed concern that the effectiveness of new anti-money laundering laws depends on the support of the judiciary, which was not represented at the workshops. Additionally, the National Identification Bill was scheduled for tabling in Parliament shortly after the Lilongwe workshop to provide Malawians with national identity cards for the first time.
• Evaluation of the workshops showed that 78% of participants rated them as either 'good' or 'excellent', with 23% specifically grading them as excellent. However, participants suggested improvements including distributing papers and the Anti-Money Laundering Bill before the sessions, allocating more time for discussion, and ensuring facilitators use more practical examples from the Malawian context.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (2006). WORKSHOPS ON MONEY LAUNDERING FOR ACCOUNTANTS IN MALAWI. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/MALAWIMLMAR06.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. WORKSHOPS ON MONEY LAUNDERING FOR ACCOUNTANTS IN MALAWI. 2006. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/MALAWIMLMAR06.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=WORKSHOPS ON MONEY LAUNDERING FOR ACCOUNTANTS IN MALAWI |date=2006 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/MALAWIMLMAR06.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudies2006workshops, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{WORKSHOPS ON MONEY LAUNDERING FOR ACCOUNTANTS IN MALAWI}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2006}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/MALAWIMLMAR06.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }