The Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) has embraced inter-agency collaboration to improve transparency and ensure accurate data collection on beneficial ownership within Liberia’s extractive industry and other sectors.

The FIA embracement pronouncement was uttered during a recent engagement with key stakeholders within the extractive sector, including the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), Open Ownership, and the Liberia Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (LEITI), to brainstorm on the anticipated launch of the Beneficial Ownership Registry and the establishment of the Beneficial Ownership Secretariat.

These interactions underscore the FIA’s commitment to nurturing a transparent environment, making beneficial ownership information seamlessly accessible to facilitate the fight against corruption and to increase accountability in the extractive sector.

The impending Beneficial Ownership Registry and Secretariat are expected to play essential roles in upholding up-to-date records of individuals who ultimately own or control companies, ensuring that such information is available to appropriate authorities and the public.

“The FIA aims to align with international standards and best practices by partnering with local and global stakeholders in the extractive industry and reinforcing Liberia’s commitment to transparency and effective governance in its natural resource management, FIA Officer-In-Charge (OIC)-Mohammed A. Nasser emphasized.

Responding, the visiting delegates from EITI, Open Ownership, and LEITI, jointly expressed their commitment to operationalize Liberia’s Beneficial Ownership regime and to work tirelessly to make the National Steering Committee on Beneficial Ownership functional for the actualization of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative’s recommendations attainable.