The Heads of two regional Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) are here for a site visit on Guyana’s application to join the Egmont Group, an association of FIUs.
The Egmont Group facilitates and prompts the exchange of information among member FIUs and it would be important for Guyana to join as laundering and other financial crimes could be tackled more effectively.
The Group also provides FIUs with a platform to securely exchange expertise and financial intelligence to tackle money laundering, terrorist financing and associated crimes.
For a number of years Guyana has spoken about joining the group but this has not been achieved.
Yesterday, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC met with a delegation from the FIUs of Trinidad and Tobago and the British Virgin Islands.
A release from the AG’s Chambers said that the delegation comprised Nigel Stoddard, Acting Director of the FIU, Trinidad and Tobago and Errol George, Director of the Financial Investigation Agency, British Virgin Islands.
Accompanying the Attorney General were Matthew Langevine, Director of the FIU Guyana, and Rommel St. Hill, Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Officer attached to the Attorney General Chambers.
Following their visit, the release said that the delegation will provide a report to the Egmont Group in July, 2023 in Dubai for consideration. If successful, this will enable Guyana to join the Egmont Group in early-2024. The release said that Guyana’s joining of this international institution will significantly enhance its FIU institutional capability to access international platforms and to receive and be able to disseminate vital information and intelligence in relation to organized crime, terrorist financing, and other local and cross-border illicit activities.
The release said that the delegation commended Guyana on its current AML/CFT framework and the “consistent exchange of information and cooperation” within this domestic network. The delegation also lauded Guyana’s FIU for executing Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with almost all of its counterparts across the Caribbean and other key stakeholders, the release said.
During their visit, the delegation met with the Finance Secretary, the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU), the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), representatives from the Bank of Guyana, the Guyana Securities Council and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA). They are also scheduled to meet with reporting entities including the commercial banks and the Guyana Immigration Service.
The release said that Nandlall thanked the delegation for their timely visit. He advised them of various pieces of legislation currently in draft to bolster and update Guyana’s AML/CFT regime and to meet the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) international standards, including amendments to the principal AML/CFT Act.
A Bill to create an omnibus agency as a supervisory authority for unsupervised entities, and a draft Real Estate Bill which will provide the regulatory framework for real estate agents and developers are also on the agenda.
The Attorney General said that he is optimistic that the delegation’s visit and input will help to accelerate Guyana’s application to join the Egmont Group, as Guyana is “becoming a sophisticated economy attracting large investments and therefore the importance of creating a strong regulatory framework to protect its growing financial sector is of paramount importance to the Government”.
