Amid concerns that Venezuelan gold was filtering into the local market in 2019 and the Guyana dollar was depreciating substantially as a result, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) had recommended that a high level team be established to do a comprehensive review of the trading of the precious metal.
The FIU report in the second half of 2019 had also urged that action be taken against illegal cambios.
It is unclear whether the then APNU+AFC administration took any action on the recommendations by the FIU. There has been renewed interest in the gold trade following the disclosure in Stabroek News that the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) is currently investigating allegations made to the Minerals Grievance Platform (MGP) that local large-scale gold trader, El Dorado Trading is connected to illegally sourced Venezuelan gold, a claim the company has denied vehemently. Following the allegation, the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) has suspended the intake of El Dorado gold from the GGB until further notice.