Tanzania's Anti-Money Laundering Act, Cap. 423, and the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations, 2022 Explained
A plain-English guide to Tanzania's Anti-Money Laundering Act, Cap. 423 R.E. 2023, and the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations, 2022 (GN No. 397): the offence and penalties, reporting persons, due diligence, records, STRs, the FIU, supervisors, sanctions and the 2025 and pending 2026 amendments.
Short answer: The Anti-Money Laundering Act, Cap. 423 (originally Act No. 12 of 2006, in force since 1 July 2007) is the core anti-money laundering law for Mainland Tanzania; the FIU publishes it as the Revised Edition 2023. It creates the money laundering offence, establishes the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and places duties on "reporting persons": risk assessment, customer due diligence, ten-year records, suspicious transaction reports within 24 hours and internal controls. The Anti-Money Laundering Regulations, 2022 (GN No. 397) set out the detail.
This guide is for money laundering reporting officers (MLROs), compliance managers, boards and legal teams at Tanzanian banks, microfinance service providers, insurers, securities firms, bureaux de change, gaming operators and designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs). It is a practical guide, not legal advice. Zanzibar has its own Anti-Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act, No. 10 of 2009, which this guide does not cover.
The Act at a glance
| Part | Sections | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| I | 1–3 | Preliminary provisions, including definitions |
| II | 4–11 | The FIU and the National Multi-disciplinary Committee |
| III | 12–14 | Prohibition of money laundering |
| IV | 15–26 | AML, CFT and CPF supervision: the duties of reporting persons |
| V | 27–29 | Financial provisions |
| VI | 30–36 | Miscellaneous provisions |
The Act applies to Mainland Tanzania; only Part II also applies to Tanzania Zanzibar (section 2). It was amended by Acts No. 6 of 2008, 1 of 2012, 1 of 2013, 14 of 2015, 4 of 2016, 8 of 2020 and 2 of 2022, and most recently by the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 2025 (Act No. 1 of 2025).
Section numbers. The Revised Edition 2023, which incorporates legislation up to 30 June 2023, renumbered the sections and prints each old number in brackets. The 2019 to 2023 Regulations say they were "Made under section 29" and use the old numbers. The main pairs are: customer due diligence, section 16 (formerly 15A); records, 17 (16); suspicious transaction reports, 18 (17); internal controls, 19 (18); administrative sanctions, 21 (19A); tipping off, 22 (20); and regulations, 36 (29).
The money laundering offence (sections 12 to 14)
Under section 12, a person commits money laundering who deals in, converts, transfers, conceals, disguises, acquires, possesses, uses or administers the proceeds of a predicate offence, or participates in, conspires, attempts, aids and abets, facilitates or counsels such acts, knowing or when they "ought to have known" that the property is proceeds. The offence is separate from the underlying crime, and the person need not first be convicted of that crime. A "predicate offence" is a serious offence as defined in the Proceeds of Crime Act.
| Penalty (section 13) | Individual | Body corporate |
|---|---|---|
| Fine | TZS 100 million to 500 million, or three times the market value of the property, whichever is greater | TZS 500 million to 1 billion, or three times the market value of the property, whichever is greater |
| Or imprisonment | Five to ten years | – |
| Further orders | – | On application by the FIU or regulator, a court may bar the company from business or place it under supervision |
Directors, managers, controllers and partners can be convicted personally (section 14).
Who the Act covers
Section 3 defines "reporting person" in ten paragraphs: banks and financial institutions; cash dealers, such as insurers, securities dealers, money transmitters, gaming operators and bureaux de change; accountants, real estate agents, auditors, tax advisers and dealers in precious stones, works of art or metals; trust and company service providers; motor vehicle dealers; clearing and forwarding agents; advocates, notaries and other independent legal professionals, for listed client transactions; pension fund managers, securities market intermediaries, financial leasing entities, microfinance service providers (except Tier 4) and housing finance companies; auctioneers; and others the Minister specifies by Gazette notice. "Financial institution" includes "decentralised virtual currencies exchangers, wallet providers, payments processors or senders, and other virtual currency business models".
Beneficial ownership: 5% or 20%? Since Act No. 2 of 2022, the Act treats a shareholding or ownership interest of five percent or more held by a natural person as an indication of direct ownership. The FIU's January 2023 compliance guide for DNFBPs tells dealers in precious metals and stones to identify beneficial owners "at the 20% threshold". Follow the Act.
The duties of reporting persons (Part IV)
| Duty | Section | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Risk assessment | 15 | Carry out risk assessments and keep them up to date |
| Customer due diligence | 16 | Before a relationship or occasional transaction, on suspicion and when earlier data is doubted; ongoing monitoring; beneficial owners; enhanced measures for politically exposed persons |
| Records | 17 | Transactions, due diligence files, risk assessments, STRs and analysis, kept for at least ten years |
| Suspicious transaction reports | 18 | Within 24 hours after forming the suspicion, including proposed and attempted transactions. See our STR guide |
| Internal controls | 19 | Staff screening, an MLRO who reports to the FIU, regular training, compliance management and independent audit |
| Group-wide programmes | 20 | Consistent programmes across a group; breach is an offence (fines up to TZS 10 million for a body corporate) |
| Tipping off | 22 | No disclosure that an STR may be prepared, is being prepared or has been sent |
How often to update risk assessments. Section 15(11) requires them to be kept up to date "at a frequency commensurate with the identified risks, but at least once a year". GN No. 853E changed regulation 3(2) of the Regulations from "once a year" to "after every three years", and Bill No. 1 of 2026 would make the same change in the Act. Until the Bill is enacted, the Act and the Regulations conflict; updating at least once a year satisfies both.
The FIU and the National Committee (Part II)
The FIU is an Extra Ministerial Department under the Ministry responsible for finance, headed by a Commissioner appointed by the President for five years and re-appointable once. It receives, analyses and disseminates suspicious transaction, currency transaction, cross-border currency and electronic funds transfer reports (section 4(2)), and supervises reporting persons (section 6). After an STR, the Commissioner may suspend a transaction for up to five working days (section 6(3)). Reports reach the FIU through its goAML portal: see our goAML registration guide.
The National Multi-disciplinary Committee, chaired by the Bank of Tanzania's representative, sets AML/CFT/CPF policy and coordinates risk assessments and country evaluations (sections 8 and 9).
Supervisors and sanctions
Section 3 names the regulators, including the Bank of Tanzania, the Capital Markets and Securities Authority, the Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority, the Gaming Board of Tanzania, BRELA, the Tanganyika Law Society, the National Board of Accountants and Auditors and several registrars, plus any body the Minister specifies by order. Section 26 requires "the regulator or FIU" to enforce compliance, examine reporting persons and impose administrative sanctions. The FIU's 2024 enforcement manual also names the Mining Commission, which is not in the Act's list, so mining businesses should confirm their supervisor with the FIU.
Under section 21, where a reporting person fails to comply with section 15, 17, 18 or 19, the FIU or regulator imposes any of these administrative sanctions: a warning or caution, a reprimand, remedial directives, restriction or suspension of business activities, suspension of a business licence, or suspension or removal of the staff member responsible. The list contains no fines.
Criminal penalties sit in the duty sections, such as section 18(4) for failing to report and section 22(2) for tipping off. Section 33(1) adds a general penalty where no specific penalty is stipulated: for an individual, up to three years' imprisonment or a fine of TZS 100 million to 500 million (or the amount involved, if greater); for a body corporate, a fine of not less than TZS 500 million. The FIU's 2024 enforcement manual adds minimum administrative penalties, such as TZS 5,000,000 on an institution that fails to submit an STR; treat these as FIU enforcement guidance.
The Anti-Money Laundering Regulations, 2022 (GN No. 397)
GN No. 397 was published on 3 June 2022. It has 30 regulations in five Parts (preliminary provisions; risk assessments; customer due diligence; reporting of suspicious transactions; miscellaneous provisions) and an STR form in the Schedule. It revoked the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Regulations, 2012 (GN No. 289 of 2012), but not the 2019 cash and electronic funds transfer regulations (GN No. 420), which remain separate: see our CTR and EFT guide.
Key provisions:
- Regulation 8: customer due diligence, including, since November 2023, occasional transactions above the shilling equivalent of USD 15,000.
- Regulations 14 to 20: internal reporting to an MLRO "at management level", attention to unusual transactions, and what an STR must contain.
- Regulation 21: STRs "not later than twenty-four working hours" after the reporting person becomes aware; build to the Act's stricter 24 hours.
- Regulations 24 to 26: training at least every twelve months, answers to FIU requests within three working days, and FIU feedback on STRs.
| 2023 amendment | Published | Main changes |
|---|---|---|
| GN No. 10A | 14 January 2023 | Amended regulations 2, 8, 10 and 13 and added 8A, 13A and 21A: a reporting person that cannot complete due diligence must not proceed, or must end the relationship, and must consider an STR. Regulation 21A allows some FATF measures to be disapplied where risk is proven low |
| GN No. 853E | 22 November 2023 | Amended regulations 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13 and 16 and added 6A and 8B: risk assessments "after every three years", due diligence on occasional transactions above USD 15,000, a compliance officer "at the management level" and limits on the STR duty of DNFBPs |
A companion notice, GN No. 10B of 14 January 2023, brings the heads, senior officials and governing-body members of political parties within the rules on politically exposed persons.
Amendments since 2022, and one pending
- Act No. 2 of 2022 (assented 23 February 2022, published 8 March 2022) brought terrorist and proliferation financing and attempted transactions into the STR duty, added the 5% beneficial ownership indicator and substituted the administrative sanctions section (then section 19A).
- Act No. 1 of 2025 (assented 4 March 2025, published 14 March 2025) added that a regulator without the mandate to impose a section 21 sanction must recommend it to its "relevant authority". The FIU's R.E. 2023 copy does not show this change.
- Bill No. 1 of 2026, the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, 2026 (published 15 January 2026), would split politically exposed persons into domestic and foreign, redefine paragraph (g) of "reporting person" as "advocates, notaries and other legal professionals", move risk-assessment updates to every three years, and add a section 18A on when DNFBPs must report suspicious transactions. On 1 October 2026 the Attorney General's list of 2026 Acts showed only the Appropriation Act and the Finance Act, so treat the Bill as pending.
FATF status and evaluation
The FATF monitored Tanzania for strategic deficiencies from October 2010 to 27 June 2014, and again from 21 October 2022 to 13 June 2025. Tanzania was on neither FATF list after the June 2026 plenary. ESAAMLG's June 2021 mutual evaluation rated Tanzania Largely Compliant with Recommendation 20 (reporting of suspicious transactions) and Compliant with Recommendation 21 (tipping-off and confidentiality).
See also our buyer's guide to AML compliance software in Tanzania, our Tanzania FIU goAML reporting guide and goAML reporting software for Tanzania.
Frequently asked questions
What is Cap. 423 in Tanzania?
The Anti-Money Laundering Act, Chapter 423, originally Act No. 12 of 2006. The FIU publishes the Revised Edition 2023, which renumbered its sections.
What are the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations, 2022?
GN No. 397 of 3 June 2022: 30 regulations on risk assessment, customer due diligence and suspicious transaction reporting, with an STR form. GN No. 10A and GN No. 853E amended them in 2023.
What is the penalty for money laundering in Tanzania?
For an individual, a fine of TZS 100 million to 500 million or three times the property's market value, whichever is greater, or five to ten years' imprisonment. For a body corporate, TZS 500 million to 1 billion or three times the market value, whichever is greater.
Has the Act changed since the Revised Edition 2023?
Yes: the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 2025 changed the sanctions section. Bill No. 1 of 2026 proposes more, but had not been confirmed as enacted on 1 October 2026.
See how Creodata's AML compliance software in Tanzania maps each duty to a module: book a demo.
More guides for Tanzania
- Tanzania FIU goAML Reporting: A Practical Guide for Banks
- FIU goAML Registration in Tanzania: Who Registers, the Portal's Steps and What to Prepare (2026)
- Suspicious Transaction Reports in Tanzania: The 24-Hour Rule, the STR Form and Tipping-Off (2026)
- Cash Transaction Reports in Tanzania: USD 10,000 CTRs, USD 1,000 EFT Reports and the Five-Working-Day Deadline (2026)
- AML Compliance Software in Tanzania: A Buyer's Guide for Banks, SACCOS and Fintechs (2026)
