Anti Money Laundering legislation…APNU to further reduce powers of Ministers

Feb 10, 2014 News

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…also amends Principal Act to allow search/seizures not only at ports of entry

If Minister Anil Nandlall recognised the need to reduce the power of Ministers under the amendments to the Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill, A Partnership for National Unity’s, Joseph Harmon, says “we must also be able to make changes too.”

Harmon was speaking to this publication following Saturday evening’s meeting of the Special Select Committee, and said that APNU believes that there is still too much draconian power in the hands of the Ministers and they will be looking to have these reduced as well.
Harmon reminded that when the recommendations had first come to Guyana, Nandlall was of the opinion that none of the recommendations were to be touched as they had been handed down from the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).
This position by Nandlall, Harmon noted, has changed.
The same day Nandlall indicated by way of a statement that there is no different regime of powers resided in any officer in the Guyana legislation which are not given in similar legislation which is extant in countries across the globe.
“In fact, I refined many of the recommendations which came from the CFATF from which the Bill was coined with a view of reducing certain powers which were recommended to reside with Ministers in the Bill.”
He cited an example, in the CFATF recommendations, the Attorney General was to have powers to instruct a commercial bank to freeze any account held at that bank which the Attorney General has reasonable suspicion to believe contains proceeds of crime.

“I refined that recommendation to say that the Attorney General must apply ex parte to a judge for an order to freeze the account, and must be able to satisfy that judge that he has credible and reasonable basis to suspect that the account contains proceeds of crime,” said Nandlall.
According to Nandlall, “I specifically, shifted that power from the Attorney General to a Judge, because I believe that the Executive branch of Government should not enjoy such plenitude of power over the citizenry as there would be a likelihood of abuse.”
APNU holds the position that despite this move by Nandlall, there are several other recommendations that still give the Ministers too much power that can be abused.
Meanwhile following Saturday’s meeting, Harmon, said that there is now significant progress being made at the level of the Committee and pointed to the fact that apart from the previous position held by Chairperson of the Committee, Gail Teixeira, that they were to only address the Bill and not the substantive Act, this too has now changed.
Harmon said that according to the Substantive Act, Customs and the Financial Intelligence Unit were only allowed to make and effect search and seizures at the ports of entry and dealt only with import and export.

According to Harmon, there is money laundering within the boundaries of Guyana and as such the authorities should be able to target those as well.
He said that to limit this authority to just exports and imports into Guyana was not enough in the fight against Money Laundering.
Harmon told this publication that on Sunday (yesterday) when the Committee would have met again, APNU’s Finance spokesperson would have presented the text of the amendments to the committee for adoption.
Harmon said too that another meaningful change that the Committee would be effecting is that only very senior ranks should be allowed to conduct searches and seizures of money with entities and persons in Guyana.
APNU Executive Member said that this removes the possibility of a junior rank such as a police constable seizing people’s money under the guise of anti money laundering.
This he said must only be done by these senior ranks and FIU officials, among others.
But the move to also amend the existing substantive Act along with the CFATF recommendations is not sitting well with the Government.
Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, speaking with the state media following the meeting on Saturday, bemoaned the actions by the Opposition as more delaying tactics at the eleventh hour.
Parliament will meet today but it is unclear whether the Bill will be returned to the House, even as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) also begins its review in Paris, France.
Dr. Singh told the state media that the move to also amend the Substantive Act is a blatant and undisguised attempt to frustrate the passage of the Bill and that it must be condemned.
Meanwhile, Harmon in his update of the work of the Committee said that amendments will also be made to the sections to deal with the Financial Intelligence Unit as it relates to its composition and the appointment of its members among other facets of its operations.

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