Anti-money Laundering Amendment Bill read in National Assembly
– Will see establishment of national committee to tackle money laundering
– Passage of the Bill will ensure Guyana is in compliance with all 40 recommendations of the FATF and other regulations.
DPI, Guyana, Thursday, July 19, 2018
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams, SC., this afternoon during the 92nd Sitting of the National Assembly, read for the first time the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill 2018.
The Bill seeks to amend the AML/CFT Act and related legislation to strengthen the regime for combatting money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing (AML/CFT/PF).
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams S.C.
Clause three of the Bill amends section 7A of the Principal Act to satisfy recommendation 2 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which states that countries should designate an authority to have a mechanism that is responsible for national AML/CFT/PF policies.
This will see the establishment of the AML/CFT/PF National Coordination Committee.
This committee will comprise the Attorney General, as Chair, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Governor of the Bank of Guyana, the Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Head of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), General Manager of the Guyana Gold Board, the Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Chairperson of the Guyana Securities Council, Chairperson of the Gaming Authority and the Chief Cooperatives and Development Officers.
Some of the committee’s responsibilities will include developing national AML/CFT/PF policies informed by the risks identified in the recently completed National Risk Assessment and to develop a national action plan which includes recommendations to enable the respective agencies to competently tackle money laundering and related crimes.
Only recently at the Money Laundering/Terrorist Financing National Risk Assessment Seminar, AG Williams underscored the importance of coordination and information sharing among related agencies in the fight against money laundering.
Passage of the Bill will ensure Guyana is in compliance with all 40 recommendations of the FATF and other regulations.
By: Stacy Carmichael
Image: Jules Gibson