The National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency and the Financial Information Unit signed a cooperation agreement to, together, effectively combat the crimes of money laundering, corruption and trafficking in weapons of mass destruction. With this signed protocol, it is the objective of both institutions to strengthen the economic and financial transparency of the national oil sector.
The National Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG) and the Financial Information Unit (UIF), signed today, in Luanda, a cooperation protocol that establishes mechanisms and requirements for the exchange of information on the oil sector, with a view to promoting the basis of good practices and legal assumptions in force in Angola in combating money laundering, corruption and trafficking in weapons of mass destruction.
The agreement also aims to reinforce the organizational culture of the national concessionaire, giving importance to the collaboration and alignment of national and international entities, with a view to improving control and transparency mechanisms in the oil sector. It is, on the other hand, an instrument that includes awareness-raising processes and staff training on matters related to the prevention of financial crimes that jeopardize territorial integrity.
The Secretary of State for Petroleum, José Barroso , who was present at the signing of this protocol, highlighted that cooperation and exchange of information between the parties will encourage and promote better management of the national oil sector and the financial resources generated by it. .
“The oil sector, given its specificity in interaction with international entities and given the fact that it is a strategic sector for the country, must maintain continuous and permanent institutional alignment with strategic entities such as the FIU, with a view to reinforcing the level of credibility of the sector.”
Paulino Jerónimo , Chairman of the Board of Directors of ANPG, said, for his part, that the promotion of hydrocarbon potential in Angola must go hand in hand with the development and implementation of compliance models that ensure the effectiveness and legality of the activity , as well as the substantial improvement of results within the country's existing legal framework in this matter.
Finally, the Director of the Financial Information Unit, Gilberto Capeça , recalled that, “although the oil sector is not part of the architecture of the national system for preventing and combating money laundering, the results of the national risk assessment between 2017 and 2019 point to potential compliance risks in the oil sector. This finding resulted, by mutual agreement, in the signing of this protocol with the National Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG), to facilitate the timely and regular exchange of information between the parties and increasingly promote good practices in the sector and between all companies and official entities that work in the oil industry in Angola”.
