The Financial Intelligence Agency of Liberia (FIA) has welcomed the National Lottery Authority’s (NLA) plan to procure a digitalized tracking system to monitor gaming transactions of licensed companies, both online and face-to-face, locally and internationally.
The disclosure was made during a meeting held between the FIA and NLA recently to strengthen collaboration and coordination in the fight against Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and other Predicate Offenses.

Interacting with the NLA DG, Reginald Nagbe, the FIA Officer-IN-Charge (OIC) – Mohammed A. Nasser expressed optimism that this proposed tracking system could generate lawful revenue for the Liberian Government while mitigating illicit financial activities in the gaming sector.
The FIA OIC also cautioned the NLA Director General (DG) to put in place a system to strictly monitor the face-to-face slot machines operated by accredited/licensed gaming companies in the country for compliance with Liberia’s AML/CFT laws and other regulatory measures.

According to him, gaming companies that are operating online and have physical presence in and outside Liberia are under strict obligations to follow Liberia’s Anti-Money Laundering, Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) laws and regulations.
Mr. Nasser also mentioned that adherence to Liberia’s AML/CFT laws shall be enforced by the FIA in the gaming sector of the country while announcing a pending inspection and an onsite assessment across reporting entities.

The OIC further said the meeting with the NLA DG was primarily intended to strengthen collaboration and relationship between the two entities, to mitigate deficiencies confronting the gaming sector, which were highlighted in Liberia’s National Risk Assessment on Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorist, which was published in September of 2021 by the FIA.

Making remarks, National Lottery Authority’s Director General, Reginald Nagbe has expressed NLA’s commitment to work with the FIA to enforce AML/CFT compliance in Liberia’s gaming sector for the protection of the integrity of the country’s financial system. Mr. Nagbe pointed out that increasing Liberia’s revenue envelope requires innovation from all stakeholders and as such, the proposed digitalized tracking system proffered by the NLA aims to enhance efforts by the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) and NLA to identify lawful revenues void of tax evasion, while countering money laundering and other illicit financial activities.

Both NLA and the FIA bragged about their technical and administrative preparedness to carry out stringent AML/CFT compliance enforcement regarding online gaming companies that are presently operating in the digital space.