Following a two-day summit in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Caricom Heads today issued a statement calling on all “relevant parties” to enact long-stalled anti-money laundering legislation here.
The statement follows:
The Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community regards with profound dismay, Guyana’s inability to enact the requisite legislation aimed at implementing the recommendations of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) to address deficiencies in its anti-money laundering regime.
We recognise that Guyana’s failure to enact this Bill will result in Guyana being blacklisted by CFATF and consequently have far-reaching implications and, indeed, repercussions on the economy of Guyana as well as that of every territory of the Region. It will affect the cost of processing international transactions and will
adversely affect trade and financial flows in the Region. The non-passage of the Bill will also retard the regional integration enterprise, limit the opportunity for growth in Guyana and the Region and result in hardship for the people of Guyana, and indeed, of the Region.
We call on all relevant parties to enact the necessary legislation in the national and regional interest.
