Botswana's proceeds-of-crime statute is the Proceeds and Instruments of Crime Act, Chapter 08:03, as amended by Act No. 28 of 2014 and Act No. 8 of 2018; the Proceeds of Serious Crime Act occupied that same Chapter 08:03 before repeal and no Chapter 08:06 exists, while money-laundering reporting and confiscation-support duties for virtual asset service providers run through the Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 (Act No. 2 of 2022).

Botswana's operative anti-money-laundering statute is the Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 (Act No. 2 of 2022, Chapter 08:07), assented and commenced on 25 February 2022 and amended by the Financial Intelligence (Amendment) Act, 2025 (Act No. 1 of 2025); it repealed the Financial Intelligence Act, 2019, which was Act No. 11 of 2019 and not No. 17, and it binds virtual asset service providers as 'specified parties' with customer due diligence under sections 16 and 20 and twenty-year record keeping under section 32.

AML/CFT guidance for Botswana virtual asset service providers is issued by NBFIRA under section 49(1)(c) of the Financial Intelligence Act, 2022, which requires supervisory authorities to establish and issue guidance notes in consultation with the Financial Intelligence Agency; the operative instrument is NBFIRA's guidance note 'Implementing AML/CFT Programmes' for non-bank financial institutions conducting virtual assets business, dated 10 March 2025.

NBFIRA is the designated Regulatory Authority for virtual asset service providers in Botswana under the Virtual Assets Act, and its constitutive statute is now the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority Act, 2023 (Act No. 21 of 2023), which commenced on 15 January 2024 and replaced the 2006 Act published as Act No. 2 of 2007.

NBFIRA's AML/CFT guidance for virtual assets business is the guidance note 'Implementing AML/CFT Programmes', dated 10 March 2025 and issued under section 49(1)(c) of the Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 and section 4(1)(c) of the Virtual Assets Act, 2025; no NBFIRA virtual-asset AML/CFT guidance note bearing a November 2022 date is published.

National identity number (e.g., Omang for citizens), passport number, or other official identification document number.

Residential address (verified with utility bills, bank statements, or other official documents).

Source of funds and source of wealth (especially for high-risk customers or large transactions).

Purpose and intended nature of the business relationship.

Full legal name and trading name.

Registration number and legal form.

Principal place of business and, if different, operational address.

Names of directors, partners, or trustees.

Memorandum and Articles of Association (or similar constitutive documents).

Verification that the entity has not been dissolved, wound up, or struck off.

Identification of individuals authorized to act on behalf of the entity.

VASPs must identify and verify the identity of the beneficial owner(s) of customers, including for legal persons and legal arrangements.

Botswana sets its beneficial-ownership identification threshold at more than 10 per cent of shares, voting rights or other ownership interest, under the Financial Intelligence Regulations, 2022 (Statutory Instrument No. 14 of 2022), so the 25 per cent test used in other jurisdictions understates the identification duty owed by Botswana virtual asset service providers.

For trusts or other legal arrangements, identifying the settlors, trustees, protectors, beneficiaries, or any other person exercising ultimate effective control.

Monitoring the business relationship and transactions undertaken throughout the course of the relationship to ensure they are consistent with the VASP's knowledge of the customer, their business, risk profile, and, where necessary, the source of funds.

Keeping customer information up-to-date and verifying it periodically.

Simplified Due Diligence (SDD): May be applied in low-risk scenarios (e.g., government entities, publicly listed companies) where the risk of money laundering or terrorist financing is minimal.

Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD): Required for higher-risk scenarios, including:

Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) and their family members/close associates.

Customers from high-risk geographic locations (e.g., countries under FATF monitoring or sanctions).

Customers involved in high-risk activities or complex structures.

Transactions involving large amounts of virtual assets or unusual patterns.

Specific measures for EDD may include obtaining additional information on the customer, beneficial owner, source of funds/wealth, purpose of transactions, and senior management approval for establishing or continuing the relationship.

"Travel Rule" (FATF Recommendation 16, extended to VASPs by R.15):

Botswana sets its virtual-asset transfer threshold at BWP 10 000, not a USD or EUR 1 000 equivalent: at or above that amount a virtual asset service provider must obtain and transmit the originator's name, wallet address or account number and physical address or identity number together with the beneficiary's name and wallet address, and below it names and wallet addresses alone, under the Financial Intelligence Regulations, 2022 and NBFIRA's guidance note of 10 March 2025.

Originator Information: Name, account number (or unique transaction identifier), physical address, or national ID number, or customer identification number, or date and place of birth.

Beneficiary Information: Name, account number (or unique transaction identifier), and physical address, or national ID number, or customer identification number, or date and place of birth.

Botswana's Data Protection Act, 2024 (Act No. 18 of 2024, in force 14 January 2025) does not displace anti-money-laundering retention and disclosure duties: section 3 of the Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 gives that Act precedence over any conflicting law on combating financial offences, section 32 requires customer, transaction and business-relationship records to be kept for 20 years, and NBFIRA guidance note NBFIRA/RS/AML/CFT/GUD12, issued 11 June 2026, confirms that the Financial Intelligence Act supplies the legal basis for collecting, processing and retaining customer data and for reporting to the Financial Intelligence Agency.

Reporting Obligation: A VASP must immediately report any transaction (or attempted transaction) where they know, suspect, or have reasonable grounds to suspect that:

The transaction involves funds derived from criminal activity (money laundering).

The transaction is linked to terrorist financing.

The transaction is otherwise suspicious based on customer behavior, transaction patterns, or other red flags.

Botswana prohibits tipping-off under section 46(3) of the Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 (Act No. 2 of 2022): a person who knows or suspects that a suspicious transaction report is being made to the Financial Intelligence Agency shall not disclose information likely to prejudice a proposed investigation, and section 46(4) sets a penalty of up to P2 000 000 or 15 years' imprisonment.

Section 47 of the Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 (Act No. 2 of 2022) bars civil and criminal proceedings against any person who reports a suspicion in good faith, and section 60 grants immunity to the Director General, officers, specified parties and accountable institutions acting bona fide under the Act.

Customer Identification Records: All documents and information obtained during the CDD process (e.g., copies of ID, proof of address, beneficial ownership information).

Botswana's record-keeping duty for virtual asset businesses sits in sections 31 and 32 of the Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 (Act No. 2 of 2022), which require records of domestic and international transactions and of customer due diligence to be retained for 20 years; the Virtual Assets Act, 2025 (Act No. 4 of 2025) re-enacted the virtual assets regime and the Financial Intelligence (Amendment) Act, 2025 amended section 42 of the 2022 Act to designate virtual asset service providers as financial institutions.

Amount and value of the transaction.

Originator and beneficiary information (as per the Travel Rule).

Sending and receiving virtual asset addresses/identifiers.

Any other relevant information relating to the transaction.

Business Correspondence: Records of communications with customers.

Suspicious Transaction Reports: Copies of all STRs submitted to the FIA, along with any internal analyses or decisions made.

Botswana requires a 20-year retention period, not five years: section 32 of the Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 (Act No. 2 of 2022) requires records of domestic and international transactions to be kept for 20 years from the date the transaction is concluded, and regulation 18(3)(a) of the Financial Intelligence Regulations, 2022 (Statutory Instrument No. 14 of 2022) applies the same 20-year period to filed reports.

NBFIRA licenses and supervises virtual asset service providers under the Virtual Assets Act and is designated to regulate and supervise VASPs as specified parties under section 49(1)(b) of the Financial Intelligence Act, 2022, with power to conduct on-site examinations and to issue guidance notes in consultation with the Financial Intelligence Agency; NBFIRA is Botswana's non-bank financial services regulator rather than a prudential-only authority, and suspicious transaction reports run to the Financial Intelligence Agency.

The Financial Intelligence Agency, continued by the Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 (Act No. 2 of 2022), is Botswana's financial intelligence unit and receives suspicious transaction reports under section 38, which regulation 22(1) of Statutory Instrument No. 14 of 2022 requires to be filed as soon as possible and no later than five working days after the suspicion arose; under section 49 guidance notes are issued by supervisory authorities in consultation with the Agency.

The Virtual Assets Act, 2022 (Act No. 3 of 2022, supplement A.47 of the Government Gazette Extraordinary of 25 February 2022) was re-enacted with amendments as the Virtual Assets Act, 2025 (Act No. 4 of 2025), which the ESAAMLG follow-up report of September 2025 cites as the operative statute for VASP sanctions and beneficiary information; NBFIRA licenses virtual asset service providers and issuers of initial token offerings under that regime.

The Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 (Act No. 2 of 2022), assented and commenced on 25 February 2022, continues the Financial Intelligence Agency as the national centre for receiving, analysing and disseminating financial intelligence and repeals the earlier Financial Intelligence Act by section 64; virtual asset service providers are specified parties under it, and the Financial Intelligence (Amendment) Act, 2025 amended section 42 to designate them as financial institutions.

Botswana's operative anti-money-laundering statute is the Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 (Act No. 2 of 2022), assented and commenced 25 February 2022, whose section 64 repeals the earlier Act; the 2019 instrument was Act No. 11 of 2019 amending the Financial Intelligence Act No. 6 of 2009, and it no longer states the law.

The Proceeds and Instruments of Crime Act (Act No. 28 of 2014, commenced 1 January 2015 by Statutory Instrument No. 149 of 2014) deprives persons convicted of certain crimes of the benefits of those crimes, provides for deprivation of property suspected to be a proceed or instrument of crime, and covers money laundering and racketeering; it was amended by Act No. 8 of 2018 and by the Proceeds and Instruments of Crime (Amendment) Act, 2022 (Act No. 12 of 2022).

Botswana's confiscation statute is properly cited as the Proceeds and Instruments of Crime Act, Act No. 28 of 2014, which commenced on 1 January 2015 and has since been amended by Act No. 8 of 2018 and by the Proceeds and Instruments of Crime (Amendment) Act, 2022 (Act No. 12 of 2022).

Botswana implements United Nations Security Council designations through the Financial Intelligence (Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions) Regulations, Statutory Instrument No. 13 of 2022, in force 25 February 2022, and the Counter-Terrorism (Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions) Regulations, Statutory Instrument No. 9 of 2020, in force 27 January 2020, which impose listing, freezing and de-listing obligations by regulation rather than by directives issued by the Financial Intelligence Agency.

Virtual asset service providers are specified parties under the Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 and must apply the freezing and reporting obligations in the Financial Intelligence (Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions) Regulations, Statutory Instrument No. 13 of 2022, and the Counter-Terrorism (Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions) Regulations, Statutory Instrument No. 9 of 2020; a United Nations Targeted Financial Sanctions Bill, 2026, approved by Cabinet and announced on 18 May 2026, would add domestic designation and asset-freezing powers.

Botswana's targeted financial sanctions obligations rest on express subsidiary legislation rather than on regulations issued by the ministry responsible for foreign affairs: Statutory Instrument No. 13 of 2022 made under the Financial Intelligence Act and Statutory Instrument No. 9 of 2020 made under section 44 of the Counter-Terrorism Act give effect to United Nations Security Council resolutions, and a United Nations Targeted Financial Sanctions Bill, 2026 remains before Parliament.

Botswana's Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 (Act No. 2 of 2022) requires every specified party to conduct a risk assessment under section 13 and to implement programmes under section 14(1) covering a management-level compliance officer, employee integrity screening, ongoing training, an independent audit function and a customer acceptance policy with internal rules, processes, procedures and controls, with group-wide programmes under section 15(1); section 28 of the Virtual Assets Act, 2022 obliges a licence holder to maintain record-keeping measures for the accurate collection of information on the originator, founder and beneficial owner of a virtual asset business, together with data protection measures consistent with the Data Protection Act. Neither Act imposes a duty to screen against OFAC or European Union sanctions lists.

Section 27(1) of Botswana's Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 bars a specified party from establishing or maintaining a business relationship with a designated or nationally listed person, and section 27(3) exposes a breach to an administrative fine of up to P20 000 000 or suspension or revocation of licence. A suspicious transaction report goes to the Financial Intelligence Agency under section 38(1), and regulation 22(1) of the Financial Intelligence Regulations, 2022 (Statutory Instrument No. 14 of 2022) fixes the deadline at as soon as possible and not later than five working days. Freezing runs through the Minister's listing power in section 10 and the committee functions in section 9, which cover United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1267 of 1999, 1373 of 2001 and 1718 of 2006 and include determining the status and location of frozen assets and considering applications for unfreezing property frozen in error.

Enhanced due diligence on FATF-flagged jurisdictions is a statutory duty in Botswana rather than a supervisory expectation: section 21(1)(h) of the Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 requires a specified party to conduct enhanced due diligence in any case where the Financial Action Task Force has advised that measures should be taken in relation to a country because the country poses a threat to the international financial system, and section 21(1)(i) extends the duty to any country where the Financial Intelligence Agency has reasonable belief that financial offences are being carried on. Section 21(2) backs the duty with an administrative fine of up to P1 500 000, and section 21 also captures prominent influential persons, complex transactions with no apparent economic purpose and life insurance beneficiaries.

Administrative fines under Botswana's Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 are imposed by the supervisory authority and are capped section by section: P1 000 000 under section 13(7), P5 000 000 under section 14(4), P1 500 000 under section 21(2), P10 000 000 under section 25(2), P20 000 000 under section 26(3), P20 000 000 under section 27(3), P5 000 000 under section 38(6) for failure to report a suspicious transaction and P5 000 000 under section 46(1), with suspension or revocation of licence available alongside the fine. Section 33(1) of the Virtual Assets Act, 2022 separately empowers NBFIRA to order restitution, disgorgement of profits, an application to the Tribunal and payment of an administrative penalty as may be prescribed.

Individuals face imprisonment under both Botswana statutes. Section 31 of the Virtual Assets Act, 2022 carries up to five years with a fine of up to P250 000 for contravention of the Act, up to two years with a fine of up to P100 000 for misrepresentation or false statements and up to eight years with a fine of up to P1 000 000 for destruction of documents, and expressly makes directors and senior officials liable to the same penalty. The Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 provides up to 10 years with a fine of up to P5 000 000 under section 25(3) for anonymous accounts, up to 10 years with a fine of up to P500 000 under section 35(2) for destroying records, and up to 20 years with a fine of up to P3 000 000 under section 46(2) for failing to report or for continuing a transaction contrary to a direction of the Agency.

Confiscation and forfeiture in Botswana run under the Proceeds and Instruments of Crime Act, 2014, amended by the Proceeds and Instruments of Crime (Amendment) Act, 2022 (Act No. 12 of 2022) published at pages A.145 to A.147 of Government Gazette Extraordinary Vol. LX, No. 22 of 25 February 2022, and the Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 takes its definitions of money laundering, fund, property and serious offence from that Act. Section 9 of the Financial Intelligence Act, 2022 gives the committee power to determine the status and location of frozen assets and to consider applications for unfreezing property frozen in error.

Section 13 of Botswana's Virtual Assets Act, 2022 allows the Regulatory Authority to suspend or revoke a licence at any time on eight grounds, including that the holder is no longer fit and proper, has contravened a provision of the Act, supplied false information, or that a competent authority has so requested. Section 14 requires 21 days' written notice of the intention with reasons and gives the holder 14 days to respond, and section 15 permits suspension without notice where the Regulatory Authority considers that an immediate suspension is necessary to protect the public. Section 2 defines the Regulatory Authority as the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority.

exchange between virtual assets and fiat currencies;

exchange between one or more forms of virtual assets;

safekeeping and/or administration of virtual assets or instruments enabling control over virtual assets; and

participation in and provision of financial services related to an issuer’s offer and/or sale of a virtual asset.

Establish and maintain policies, controls, and procedures to ensure compliance with the Travel Rule.

Botswana's virtual-asset travel rule rests on section 26 of the Virtual Assets Act, 2025 (Act No. 4 of 2025) and on NBFIRA's Guidance Note of 10 March 2025, which requires a licensed VASP to obtain the originator's name, the originator's virtual asset wallet address or account number or a unique transaction reference number, and the originator's physical address, national identity number, customer identification number or date and place of birth, together with the beneficiary's name and the beneficiary's wallet address or account number, with the full originator dataset required for transfers by a natural person of BWP 10 000 or more.

NBFIRA's AML/CFT Guidance Note of 10 March 2025 requires a Botswana VASP both to transmit the collected originator and beneficiary information immediately and securely to the beneficiary VASP or other institution required by law, and separately to store that information in a form that cannot be altered and keep it readily available to the Regulatory Authority on request; the two duties are cumulative and neither substitutes for the other.

NBFIRA's AML/CFT Guidance Note of 10 March 2025 requires a Botswana VASP to transmit originator and beneficiary information immediately and securely to the beneficiary VASP and to store the collected information in a manner that cannot be altered, so that it remains readily available to the Regulatory Authority on request; the standard is unalterable storage rather than a general systems-capability expectation.

Originator’s account number used to process the transaction (or unique transaction identifier)

Originator’s physical address or national identification number or customer identification number (i.e., not a publicly available identifier) or date and place of birth

Beneficiary’s account number used to process the transaction (or unique transaction identifier)

Botswana's Virtual Assets Act, 2025 (Act No. 4 of 2025) confers administrative sanctioning power on NBFIRA at section 38, carrying forward section 33 of the repealed Virtual Assets Act, 2022, under which the Regulatory Authority could order restitution, order disgorgement of profits, apply to a tribunal for customer protection and impose administrative penalties in prescribed amounts, enforceable as orders of the High Court; the penalty amounts are left to regulations and no such amounts have been gazetted.

NBFIRA may suspend or revoke a virtual asset licence under sections 15 to 17 of Botswana's Virtual Assets Act, 2025 (Act No. 4 of 2025), which re-enact sections 13 to 15 of the repealed 2022 Act; the Regulatory Authority must ordinarily give notice of its intention to suspend or revoke, but may suspend without notice where it considers immediate suspension necessary to protect the public, and may revoke immediately in the public interest.

Criminal Penalties: For serious breaches, especially those related to money laundering or terrorist financing, individuals and corporate officers can face:

Imprisonment: Terms of imprisonment for individuals found guilty of offenses under the AML/CFT framework.

The 2017 Mutual Evaluation Report underscores Botswana's foundational AML/CFT measures but identifies gaps in virtual asset regulation and enhanced due diligence for high-risk customers. https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/publications/Mutualevaluations/Mer-botswana-2017.html

The 2023 Follow‑Up Review Report notes significant advancements in regulatory coverage, particularly the expansion of AML/CFT obligations to virtual asset service providers (VASPs) and improvements in cross-border information sharing. https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/publications/Mutualevaluations/FUR-Botswana-2023.html

The guide provides actionable insights for entities operating in Botswana's financial sector, emphasizing the importance of tailored risk assessments under the new virtual assets legislation. https://blog.voveid.com/aml-compliance-in-botswana-a-2025-guide-for-regulated-businesses/

This resource outlines the procedural nuances of conducting thorough sanctions checks in line with FATF advisories, crucial for mitigating reputational risks. https://www.anqacompliance.com/botswana-aml-sanctions-compliance/

The website serves as a centralized hub for regulatory updates and technical guidance documents pertinent to financial institutions operating within Botswana's jurisdiction. https://www.bankofbotswana.bw/content/countering-financial-crime

Zendetect’s assessment emphasizes the necessity of leveraging advanced analytics to detect unusual transaction patterns efficiently. https://www.zendetect.com/countries/botswana

The NBFIRA’s note clarifies expectations regarding Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures and the mandatory filing of Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) for VASPs within Botswana. https://www.nbfira.org.bw/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Guidance-Note-for-VASPs-Other-on-Implementation-of-AMLCFT-Programmes-.pdf

This academic resource provides a structured analysis of regulatory compliance mechanisms applicable to banking institutions under Botswana law. https://www.studocu.com/row/document/university-of-botswana/negotiable-instruments-and-banking-law/regulation-and-supervision-of-banks-in-botswana/126610421

The study identifies procedural deficiencies that could be exploited by illicit actors, recommending targeted policy interventions to fortify Botswana’s anti-money laundering defenses. https://www.emerald.com/jmlc/article/28/7/1/1267436/An-analysis-of-the-challenges-in-combatting-money-laundering-within-Bureaux-de-Change-establishments-in-Botswana

Enhanced joint efforts aim to prevent illicit funds from permeating through gaming platforms, aligning with broader national security objectives. https://focusgn.com/africa/botswana-gambling-authority-fia-deepen-cooperation-on-aml-oversight