Former DDL Chairman Dr. Yesu Persaud yesterday wrote the President and the opposition warning of the consequences of further delays in passing the anti-money laundering bill and he also cautioned against tying passage of the legislation to other demands.
As warnings heighten over the likely fallout from not urgently passing the Anti-Money Launder-ing/Countering the Fin-ancing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill, Persaud dispatched letters to President Donald Ramotar, Leader of the Opposition and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) David Granger, and Alliance for Change (AFC) Leader Khemraj Ramjattan calling for passage of the legislation.
In the letter seen by Stabroek News, Persaud, a respected veteran businessman, said issues requiring compliance with Inter-national Standards and Conventions, when used as bargaining tools in the political arena to extract political gains from each other, are dangerous and threatens the reputation of the country as a whole.” He added that regardless of domestic decisions, international entities see the country only as Guyana.
“In this regard, the amendment required to be passed for the Anti-Money Laundering Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act should not be tied or made conditional on any other local political objective being accomplished,” he said. Both APNU and the AFC have tagged on unrelated conditions for the passage of the bill, which has been the subject of tortuous discussion between the government and the opposition for the last 10 months
Nevertheless, with regard to the gridlock, Persaud suggested areas where government, the AFC and APNU might be able to find compromise. APNU is currently calling for the legislation to be amended so that the National Assembly will become the authority which oversees the staffing and operations of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). Under the legislation the FIU is responsible for analysing information which could be forwarded to law enforcement agencies. The opposition has argued that the FIU has not functioned properly.
Persaud said that the suggestion by APNU has several limitations and could impede the objectivity and effectiveness of the Unit. Instead, he suggested that a “Money Laundering Authority of Board,” staffed with independent persons “appointed on technical and professional merit…be responsible for the appointment of the (FIU’s) Director as in the manner of the Board of a company appointing a CEO.”
He said that such a body should also be placed in charge of the governance and the oversight of the work of the FIU.
Another amendment suggested by APNU seeks to give relevant law enforcement officials the authority to seize sums of $10 million if they suspect it was derived through illicit activity, or will be used for such a purpose. In his letter Persaud tells all three stakeholders that “cash seizures should only be done at the points of entry and exit of the borders as is currently allowed by the AML/CFT Act of 2009.”
The compromise, he continued, is possible by offering police or prosecutors the ability of obtaining a Court Order, issued by a Magistrate or Judge, to seize cash from “persons being investigated or under suspicion of money laundering within the borders.”
Persaud said that Guyana’s failure to comply with International Stan-dards has him deeply concerned since failing to do so may put unwanted burden on local businesses and their customers. “It must be noted, that in the Financial Sector, Guyana is already known as a high risk and low margin market for our international counterparts and any further deterioration of their margins or increase in risk may result in their withdrawal of service to us,” he posited.
Meanwhile, APNU has said it will not go back on having its amendments added to the principal Act. During a press conference yesterday, Granger lauded the fact that Chief Parliamentary Council Cecil Dhurjon has finally completed the draft of APNU’s amendments, but said that more work lies ahead.
The committee on the bill will meet again later this month to discuss the amendments. Granger chastised the government for setting the meeting on a date so far away, and accused them of not being serious about getting the Amendment Bill passed.
But even if the Amendments are agreed upon the bill still faces potential hurdles in the House. Granger yesterday reiterated that APNU is prepared to withhold support for the passage of the Bill in the National Assembly if Ramotar refuses to commit to a mechanism which will see him giving his assent to several bills passed with the opposition’s majority last year. Ramotar has refused to assent to these bills.
The president has maintained that his refusal to assent to the bills Granger wants is based on the unconstitutional nature of their content.
The AFC has tied its support for the AML bill to the government setting up the long-stalled Public Procurement Commission.
Guyana has already been blacklisted by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force for missing several deadlines last year. It potentially faces being blacklisted by the international umbrella body, the Financial Action Task Force. This could potentially lead to very stringent financial sanctions.
In recent weeks the government has stepped up a campaign to bring pressure to bear on the opposition to acquiesce to the passage of the bill. Ramotar himself addressed a stakeholders’ conference on Thursday at the Liliendaal International Conference Centre. The opposition has however said that these steps are a waste of time as compromise discussions should be taking place at the level of the select committee and in parliament.
