President David Granger is expected to shortly assent to the recently passed Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill, Minister of State Joseph Harmon said yesterday, adding that government is anxious to see the bill become operational.
The third sitting of the 11th Parliament passed the much needed bill one day after it had tabled it and Harmon yesterday said that the bill is on the president’s desk and has already been seen and it is expected that within a short period of time it would be signed.
Speaking at his weekly post-cabinet press briefing, Minister Harmon said government is anxious to have the bill operational and that it not only meets international requirements but also satisfies Guyanese that they have strong legislation that can deal with issues that affect them.
“International compliance is one aspect of it but it also requires some other administrative actions to be taken by the state and those actions we have already started to take such as the establishment of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) and there are some other things which we are doing,” the minister said when questioned on the issue.
He said the government is confident that the recently passed bill will satisfy international requirements, explaining that there are a series of reviews done periodically and even if this year it is Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-compliant, next year a review can be done and a new issue can be pointed out.
He described it as a “living kind of legislation” which will be adjusted from time to time based on international best practices.
“We are confident based on all we have seen, all we have been told that the legislation that we passed in the National Assembly that will be soon assented to by the President will make us CFATF [Caribbean Financial Action Task Force] and FATF compliant,” the minister said.
The AML/CFT Amendment bill seeks to strengthen Guyana’s regime for combating money laundering. When he presented the bill for its second reading, Attorney General Basil Williams had recounted its “checkered” history in the house. First presented on 22 April, 2013 as Bill No. 12 of 2013, the AML/CFT bill had been the subject of haggling between the two sides of the house for two years during which time it was twice laid before the House, twice sent to a special select committee for consideration and twice rejected by the majority opposition.
The then opposition side of the House, now Government had refused to approve the bill presented by the PPP/C government. Instead, the joint opposition had prepared its own version of the bill.
Former Attorney General and PPP Executive Anil Nandlall has argued that with the proposed amendments to the PPP/C’s 2013 version, the bill is prone to “contamination” by politically exposed persons (PEP). Nandlall said the APNU+AFC amendments to the 2013 bill seeking to have the director and staff of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) appointed by politicians in the National Assembly went against the warning about PEPs by the global watchdog group, the FATF.
