Dear Editor,
The Attorney-General, Mr Basil Williams, has reported that at the recent meeting of the Financial Action Task Force in Korea, Guyana was “cleared to exit FATF and CFATF regimes”. The Attorney-General was quick to point out that the APNU+AFC coalition government inherited certain strategic AMLCFT deficiencies from the previous administration. What he conveniently omitted to state, however, that it was the APNU and AFC in opposition that voted down the requisite Bills in the tenth parliament, twice, and this caused and aggravated those deficiencies in the first place resulting in Guyana being placed in the review process of CFATF and FATF. Every time this Attorney-General attempts to conceal that important fact, I will reveal it.
After every meeting, FATF issues a public statement summarizing the important decisions it has made in respect of each country that is under its review process. I have carefully examined FATF’s public statement in respect of Guyana. Nowhere in that statement is it posited, either expressly or by implication, that Guyana was “cleared to exit FATF and CFATF regimes”. In fact, nothing contained in that statement lends itself to such an interpretation.
In my view, the most perplexing part of the statement reads as follows, “Guyana has substantially addressed its action plan at a technical level, including … (4) Establishing a fully operational and effectively functioning Financial Intelligence Unit.”
It is common knowledge that by virtue of the AMLCFT (Amendment) Act 2015, Act No 1 of 2015, the coalition government effectively abolished the existing Financial Intelligence Unit and installed in its place a large bureaucratic superstructure. This structure includes:
(1) A 20 member-body known as the AMLCFT Authority, 10 of whom are to be appointed by the National Assembly by a simple majority upon the recommendation of the Parliamentary Committee on Appointments after that committee has consulted with relevant organizations.
(2) A Committee of Management of the Financial Intelligence Unit which consists of the Director, the Deputy Director, and managers. Both the Director and the Deputy Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit are appointed by the National Assembly by a simple majority on the recommendation of the Parliamentary Committee on Appointments.
(3) The Financial Intelligence Unit which consists of the Director, Deputy Director, managers, an attorney- at-law and an accountant, both of whom are appointed by the Parliamentary Committee on Appointments and other staff.
Thus far, the National Assembly has made none of the aforementioned appointments. The Parliamentary Committee on Appointments has appointed neither an attorney-at- law nor an accountant. Therefore, there is no AMLCFT Authority in place, there is no Management Committee of the Financial Intelligence Unit in place, and there is no Financial Intelligence Unit in place. These bodies exist on paper only. I am, therefore, amazed that the FATF has been led to believe that Guyana has a “fully operational and effectively functioning Financial Intelligence Unit”. Who is responsible for such misinformation? This can cause immeasurable international damage to Guyana.
Yours faithfully
Mohabir Anil Nandlall, MP
