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Churches meet APNU on troubled anti-money laundering legislations
As pressure mounts on Guyana to pass key legislations to help fight dirty money, top officials representing a number of Christian churches in Guyana met yesterday with Leader of the Opposition, Brigadier David Granger and a team of officials from A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) at the Office of the Opposition Leader.
The legislations are currently in limbo as both the Government and the Opposition parties remain deadlocked on a number of changes and conditions to the proposed bills.
APNU’s leader and representatives of a number of Christian churches during the meeting yesterday.
According to APNU, the coalition remains committed to amending the current Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act of 2009 to ensure that it is effective.
“APNU is committed to ensuring that the Bank of Guyana and the Financial Intelligence Unit are empowered and equipped to fulfil their functions and achieve the objectives of the Act.”
APNU also said it is committed to engaging the Government of Guyana, the private sector, civil society, the trade unions and the international community to protect the economy with enforceable.
The APNU team included Basil Williams, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly; Shadow Minister of Legal and Economic Affairs, Carl Greenidge; and Mark Archer, Communications Director of APNU.
Already, worried business leaders and the other stakeholders’ groups have been meeting with Government and the Opposition over the legislations.
Early last year, Government facing a deadline of May 27 tabled the Bills but the Opposition, which holds a one-seat majority in the National Assembly, sent it instead to a Special Parliamentary Select Committee for modifications.
A Parliamentary recess and wrangling saw the next review in November by the regional regulators being passed without the legislations in place. A warning was issued to member countries to take steps to protect themselves from possible risks from Guyana.
A February review has also elapsed with May set for the next meeting of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) on the Guyana situation.
The issue has heavily divided the National Assembly with the Alliance For Change, the smaller of the two Opposition factions, linking its support for the legislations to the establishment of the long-awaited Public Procurement Commission.
Government has said that failure to pass the legislations, part of a raft of measures to stop the flow of illegal monies into the established banking and other financial systems, could see the country being blocked by others in transacting simple businesses. Including this is the transfer of monies and payment for goods.
Banks and other financial institutions have to demand proper identification of its customers with Guyana strengthening its laws to allow for the seizures of cash, bank accounts and properties believed to have come from illegal means.
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