Uganda

1. Does Uganda have legislation making it a criminal offence to engage in money laundering and/or terrorist financing?

Yes. Uganda has legislation making money laundering and terrorist financing a criminal offence. The primary legislation against money laundering and terrorism financing is the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) 2013 (as amended) and the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations, 2015 (AMRA). The AMLA and AMRA criminalize money laundering and terrorism financing. In addition, the Anti-Terrorism Act 2002 (ATA) as amended applies to combatting terrorism broadly and has features that could be applied to counteracting terrorism financing in Uganda.

2. To whom does the legislation apply?

The legislation applies to all persons in Uganda and those outside Uganda subject to the extraterritorial aspects of the legislation, including those persons on a vessel flying the flag of Uganda or an aircraft registered under the laws of Uganda and nationals of Uganda or stateless persons who have their habitual residence in Uganda. The legislation primarily creates obligations for a class of persons known as, “Accountable Persons.”

The list of Accountable Persons is provided in the Second Schedule to the Act.

3. What does the legislation prohibit?

The legislation prohibits:

• converting, transferring, transporting and transmitting property knowingly or having reasons to believe such property to be proceeds of crime, for the purposes of concealing or disguising the illicit origin of the property or assisting any other person who is involved in the commission of the crime generating the proceeds to evade the legal consequences of his/her actions;
• concealing, disguising, or impeding the establishment of the true nature, source, location, disposition, movement or ownership of or its rights with respect to property knowing or having reasons to believe such property to be proceeds of a crime;
• acquiring, possessing, using or administering property knowing or having reason to believe at the time of receipt that the property is the proceeds of crime;
• acting to avoid transaction reporting requirements;
• assisting another person to benefit from known proceeds of crime;
• using known proceeds of crime to facilitate the commission of a crime;
• participating in, associating with, conspiring to commit, attempting to commit, aid and abate or facilitate and counsel the commission of any of the acts described above.

The Act also prohibits tipping off; Falsification & Concealment of documents; failure to identify persons; Failure to keep records; Facilitating money laundering; Refusal, Neglecting or Omission to assist a representative of an Authority; Failure to report cash transactions exceeding Uganda Shillings 20 million; Failure to report suspicious or unusual transactions; Failure to report conveyance of cash exceeding Uganda Shillings 30 Million into or out of Uganda; Failure to send a report to authority and failure to comply with orders made under the Act.

4. How is money laundering defined? Does underlying criminal activity have to be proven?

The AMLA defines “money laundering” as the process of turning illegitimately obtained property into seemingly legitimate property and it includes concealing or disguising the nature, source, location, disposition or movement of the proceeds of crime and any activity which constitutes a crime under the AMLA.

5. What level of intent or knowledge is required to establish a violation?

Section 4 of the AMLA provides that the knowledge, intent or purpose required as an element of the crime of money laundering may be inferred from objective factual circumstances. However, a person need not have proof that property is the proceeds of crime to be liable under the AMLA. Dealing in property having reason to believe such property to be proceeds of crime is also criminalized.

6. What are the potential penalties for infringing the legislation?

A person who commits any offence prohibited under the AMLA is liable on conviction to:

• in the case of a natural person, imprisonment for a period not exceeding 15 years or a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand currency points (Uganda Shillings Two Billion) or both;
• in the case of a legal person, by a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand currency points (Uganda Shillings Four Billion).

7. Does the legislation have extra-territorial reach?

Yes, the AMLA has jurisdiction over Ugandans who commit anti-money laundering crimes outside Uganda as well as stateless people habitually resident in Uganda. In addition, the Act has jurisdiction over persons who participate in, associate with, conspire to commit, attempt to commit, aid and abet, or facilitate and counsel the commission of any acts prohibited under the AMLA outside Uganda with the objective of committing the same prohibited actions in Uganda.

8. Are there additional anti-money laundering or counter terrorist financing regulations or obligations, such as registration or reporting obligations, for businesses or individuals that operate in particular sectors or undertake particular activities?

Accountable persons are required by law to register with the FIA as accountable persons. Accountable persons are required to undertake a client screening and a due diligence to ascertain if their clients are money laundering risks, terrorism financing risks and/or politically exposed persons. This entails putting in place robust risk assessment and record storage mechanisms.

Finally, accountable persons are required to record and report cash, unusual, suspicious and/or large transactions to the FIA.

9. What are the potential penalties for failing to comply with these obligations?

Where the accounting person fails to comply with their obligations under the AMLA, the accounting person or its employee may upon application to the court by the supervisory body of the accounting person or the FIA be liable to pay a fine not exceeding one thousand eight hundred currency points (Uganda Shillings 36 million), and may in addition pay an additional fine of one hundred and eighty currency points (Ug. Shs 3,600,000) for each day that the failure to comply continues.

10. Who are the relevant enforcement authorities in Uganda and what are their contact details?

The AMLA establishes the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) and its function is to ensure compliance with the Act. It is the main enforcement body for the offence of money laundering in Uganda and in performing its roles it works with other crime detection and prosecution bodies such as the Uganda Police Force.

fia.go.ug