Govt taking steps to ensure full compliance with CFATF recommendations

DPI, Guyana, Monday, September 3, 2018

Guyana is in the fourth round of mutual evaluation by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) and Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams, SC., today said government is taking all the necessary steps to ensure full compliance with the CFATF’s recommendations.

While Guyana comes up for assessment in 2022, AG Williams reminded that it is imperative that the supervisory bodies and reporting agencies are operating with a high level of efficiency.

He referred to the National Risk Assessment from which the National Action Plan, for tackling money laundering, terrorist financing and other related crimes, was derived. A recent meeting was hosted at the Bank of Guyana (BOG) where heads of agencies updated on the implementation of the Action Plan.

According to the AG: “This fourth round is even harsher than the third, it is more resource intensive, so a lot has to be done and we have to start doing it now, one might think that 2022 is a long time, but it is not necessarily so.”

The registries are currently updating information on companies with an emphasis on beneficial ownership.

“The question of effectiveness Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and the Judiciary, the need to generate suspicious transactions reports,” the AG said, must be considered.

These reports are analysed by the FIU and sent to Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), which conducts investigations that can transpose into the prosecutions.

The Attorney General pointed to the need for convictions, as part of the CFATF requirements. He said thus far many other jurisdictions have failed in this regard.

The Attorney General noted, however, that convictions are dependent on the Court of Law.

By: Stacy Carmichael.

Image: Department of Public Information.