Somalia: U.S. Treasury Chief Pledges Briefing On Somaliland Financial Access Bill

What the report says

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he would receive a briefing next week on a bill that examines obstacles to Somaliland’s access to the U.S. financial system, following questioning from Representative John Rose during a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, according to Horn Diplomat via AllAfrica. The exchange centered on Rose’s Somaliland Economic Access and Opportunity Act, which seeks a Treasury report to Congress on the main legal, regulatory and policy barriers affecting financial access.

The proposal would look at issues including compliance standards, remittance flows, links to international financial institutions and possible steps that could allow Somaliland to use the SWIFT financial messaging network. Rose said the measure is intended to expand lawful financial access while limiting risks tied to money laundering and other illicit activity. He also argued that closer economic ties could serve U.S. interests because of Somaliland’s location near key Gulf of Aden shipping routes and broader competition with China in the Horn of Africa.

According to the report, Rose said he met Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi in Washington the same day. Bessent did not take a position on Somaliland’s political status and did not say the bill would be endorsed, but he agreed Treasury staff could review it and said the department could complete the requested assessment within 180 days.

The bill was introduced in March with support from Representatives Pat Harrigan and Andy Ogles. Somaliland’s foreign ministry previously welcomed it as a constructive step, while the Treasury comments mainly signaled further review rather than a policy change.