The government yesterday released its five-year national strategy to combat money laundering (ML) and the financing of terrorism (TF) with a key feature being enhancing the capabilities of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and improving the investigating and prosecuting competencies here.
“This National Policy and Strategy is a five-year plan that aims to further enhance and improve Guyana’s AML/CFT/PF [Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism/Financing the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction] regime by addressing the risks identified in Guyana’s Second NRA [National Risk Assessment] Report and implement the strategy in conjunction with Guyana’s Risk Based Action Plan”, according to the document released yesterday by the Attorney General Anil Nandlall who stated that government had approved it at the Cabinet level.
“The National Policy and Strategy provides a guide of the actions required to be undertaken to improve Guyana’s effectiveness in mitigating ML, TF, and PF,” the document adds.
The eight Strategic objectives are “1- ensuring policy coordination to mitigate ML/TF/PF risks; Strategic objective 2 – strengthening AML/CFT/PF legislative framework; Strategic objective 3 – strengthening and clarifying the AML/CFT/PF supervisory framework; Strategic objective 4 – enhancing the FIU’s capabilities; Strategic objective 5 – enhancing investigation and prosecution capabilities; Strategic objective 6 – developing greater cooperation and coordination among domestic competent authorities; Strategic objective 7 – enhancing regional and international cooperation; Strategic objective 8 – ensuring adequate, accurate and up-to-date information on beneficial ownership and control of legal persons and legal arrangements.”
With regard to improving the necessary internal capabilities of the FIU, to optimally perform its role in receiving, analysing, and disseminating financial intelligence in terms of both staff and IT [Information Technology] capabilities, “The FIU will enhance its internal capabilities by continuing to increase and train its staff; it will request access (both legally and operationally) to any additional databases it needs to gather sufficient intelligence to support its analyses; it will also develop and implement IT tools that would enable it to facilitate and enhance its analytical capabilities. This is all towards the FIU ensuring its improvement of the quality of its Intelligence Gathering and Processing,” the document said.
“The other actions to be taken by the FIU are as follows…Continue to develop additional capabilities in the longer term, such as increased focus on strategic analyses to identify trends and patterns and support the establishment of policies and goals to further strengthen AML/CFT supervision. Providing updated guidelines to reporting entities on dealing with foreign and local PEPs. Securing Membership to the Egmont Group, having already secured sponsors and having its application in progress. Providing Reporting Entities (REs) with information to assist them in managing their ML/TF risk, including risk associated with high-risk customers,” it adds, setting the timeframe from the second quarter of 2021 to the fourth quarter of 2023.
The fifth strategy that deals with capacity enhancement to ensure not only prosecutions but convictions, pointed to the FATF which states that “if global AML/CFT efforts are to be effective, countries must have strong operational authorities to bring prosecutions and obtain convictions, as well as to seize and confiscate the proceeds and instrumentalities of crime for the benefit of states and victims.”
In Guyana, this has been one of the biggest issues as the conviction rate for financial crimes is extremely low. However, the document acknowledges this and promises that actions will be taken to correct this humbug to justice.
“It is clear, based on Guyana’s risk profile that money laundering investigations need to result in tangible number of prosecutions and convictions. In that regard SOCU will take the following actions to achieve its mandate, through …Enhancing its capacity by hiring additional financial investigators and attorneys. Ensuring that specialized ML/TF training as well as asset forfeiture training is provided for its staff to effectively carry out its mandate. Increased use of external experts, such as forensic accountants when there is no such ‘in-house’ expertise available. Enhancing its access to relevant information and its use of analytical and workflow tools, by the establishment of specialized Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for investigators dealing with ML/TF and PF cases…,” the document outlines.
“To further ensure that there is integrity and independence of Financial Crime Prosecutors, the Government of Guyana will review remuneration and conditions to attract persons who are competent and experienced, and to ensure the best are hired and undergo continuous training…A needs assessment and legal analysis will be conducted to determine (i) whether a financial court should be established, and (ii) the constitutionality of the establishment of such; this is in addition to specialized training for Judges and Magistrates conducting ML/TF and AF matters to ensure justice is effectively served. This will also serve to assist with the current backlog of cases in the court system and delays in bringing matters to trial..,” it adds.
Tackling border control, which it was highlighted that this country falls victim to given its porous borders, the strategy states that the quality of border control will be enhanced through increased resources including improved technology to monitor real time movements at the borders, as well as adequate training, equipment, and human resources at ports of entry.
Additionally more detailed statistics will be collected to ensure adequate monitoring of the progress achieved in terms of the outcome of Guyana’s efforts with regards to investigating and prosecuting, the strategy assures.
The document underscored that it is critical to ensure that there is increased coordination and cooperation among the competent authorities. As such, to enforce the seriousness of the issue, there will be sanctions attached for failure to produce information in a timely manner, “through enforceable means.” Those means were not detailed.
Noted also was that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Legal Affairs, will ensure that this domestic information sharing will be of benefit to the AML/CFT regime by ensuring the effectiveness of tax enforcement by increased training of persons in the area of tax audits, using the MoU and amending legislation to allow the GRA to share information with financial crime investigators.
“Additional MoUs for sharing of information to facilitate analysis and investigation of ML/TF/PF and predicate crimes will be signed among competent authorities and SAs…Enabling of enforceable means to facilitate information sharing between the competent authorities will also be promulgated to effectively achieve cooperation,” the plan states.
This country will also turn to international help to access sanctions lists of persons to have those sanctions implemented here also.
“Whilst Guyana is already active in international cooperation and responsive to the requests it receives, the country will review the process to implement targeted financial sanctions and update lists of designated persons to ensure the immediate applicability in Guyana of international sanctions and lists. The ability to provide information spontaneously if required by the Competent Authorities will continue to be facilitated,” Strategic Objective 7 states.
Objective 8 points to systems being put in place, such as upgrading and digitizing legal records to add to the focus on beneficial ownership by the FATF and actively collect and track beneficial ownership information of legal persons and arrangements.
“… Upgrade of the records of the Commercial Registry through digitization. This will enable reporting entities, competent authorities and the general public to have timely access to adequate, accurate and up to date BO [Beneficial Ownership] information on legal persons … Further amendments to the Companies Act to capture all forms of businesses that are required to provide BO information, as it currently only refers to registered companies but should also address trust arrangements…,” the document states.
Under pressure to secure convictions for financial crimes, the government has recently charged several persons with money laundering and issued bulletins for others.
