From all indications, Guyana, once again, has been able to avert being placed on a blacklist by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported yesterday.
This, GINA reported, is “largely due to the high level commitment of the government coupled with demonstrable actions taken in the country’s attempts to comply with recommendations made to address the technical deficiencies identified in the country’s AML/CFT regime.”
GINA reported that Guyana will, however, continue to be subjected to an “ongoing process in improving compliance” to ensure that it discharges its obligations under the Action Plan which was worked out with the Americas Regional Review Group (ARRG) and submitted as Guyana’s action plan. GINA said a statement will formally be issued today to this effect and will also identify the actions which Guyana is required to take within time frames which will be specified.
Earlier this week, the Guyana Government delivered a letter to the FATF committing to remedy gaps in the country’s anti-laundering legislation.
The letter was delivered in Paris, where the FATF is meeting, by Attorney General Anil Nandlall.
Observers had noted that the commitment still requires an agreement between the government and the opposition so that the amended bill can be passed in Parliament. The government and the opposition have haggled on the bill for over two years and an agreement is still to be reached.
On Monday, Guyana was reviewed by the FATF’s International Co-operation Review Group, in Paris and this continued up to yesterday by which time, the country was expected to be told its fate.
In his presentation, GINA said, the Attorney General reiterated the country’s commitment to international financial legislation, and reported that an action plan was worked out between Guyana and the ARRG in which certain technical deficiencies were pinpointed in Guyana’s Anti-Money Laundering/ Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime and timeframes were agreed for these deficiencies to be rectified.
GINA said that Nandlall highlighted that a national task force has been established, comprising very high ranking members of government and important stakeholders/agencies of state, and that it is currently reviewing a five-year plan for Guyana’s AML/CFT regime.
Earlier this month, Nandlall had described a recent meeting with the ARRG as fruitful and constructive.
Nandlall had led a Guyana government delegation to a meeting with the ARRG in Miami in the wake of a targeted review underway due to the country’s failure to amend its AML/CFT legislation to meet international standards recommended by the FATF.
According to a GINA report, Guyana’s position at the engagement was that the country is in the process of putting in place alternatives to address the technical deficiencies in its existing legal and financial legislative architecture for the FATF’s assessment. “Were we able to pass the bill then we would not have had to go through this process.
But because we did not pass that bill, we now have to look at alternative mechanisms to satisfy the technical requirements,” Nandlall was quoted as saying by GINA.
The AML/CFT amendment bill remains stalled in the National Assembly due to government’s unwillingness to meet preconditions set out by the parliamentary opposition for its support, which is crucial for the passage of the legislation.
The opposition’s de-mands include the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission as well as the assent of previously rejected bills passed by the National Assembly.
