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Guyana to host September visit from FATF/ICRG team …Before it can move to exit watch list
Attorney General Basil Williams
A high level team comprising Financial Action Task Force/International Coordinating Review Group (FATF/ICRG) Co-Chairs will be in Guyana come September, to conduct onsite inspections of several of Guyana’s institutions in order to verify Guyana’s progress and its readiness to come off of its watch list.
This is according to Attorney General, Basil Williams, who stated at a press conference yesterday that a favorable report from the team will allow Guyana to begin the process of removing itself from the FATF/ICRG review list, at the October plenary meeting.
Williams stated the institutions that would be visited include the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU), the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the Bank of Guyana, Guyana Securities Council (GSC), money transfer agencies and the commercial banks.
Among the things that they will be looking for is to ensure that Guyana is criminalizing money laundering and terrorist financing; that Guyana has adequate measures to confiscate assets related to money laundering and that the country has the legal frame work to identify, trace and freeze terrorist assets.
The team will also be ensuring that the FIU is functioning effectively. The FIU is supposed to oversee SOCU. Other reforms which the onsite visits will seek to confirm is that there is enhanced transparency with these financial systems and that the mechanisms for reporting suspicious transactions are in place.
Finally, the team will seek to ensure that there is an adequate supervisory framework.
“Once the FATF/ICRG Co Chairs conclude that Guyana has satisfied it’s on site verification, then a motion will have to be moved in the October Plenary, to remove Guyana from the FATF/ICRG review list.
“On being removed from the said list, Guyana will thereupon qualify to exit the CFATF follow up process.”
According to Williams, however, the country had made significant strides and had been commended at the June 59th ninth plenary meeting which was held in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Williams, who attended the meeting, stated that the country was commended for having substantially completed its action plan at the technical level and that it received thumbs up on its “Tenth follow up report.”
“Guyana has substantially completed its overall level of compliance and most importantly, Guyana has fully addressed the core and key recommendations,” Williams reported.
“While Guyana satisfies the criteria for application to exit the follow up process, it is still in the FATF/ICRG process which it needs to complete first.”
“It is recommended that Guyana stay in enhanced follow up and be required to report on continuing implementation to the next plenary in November.”
Williams also noted that the dates of September 15 and September 16 have been proposed by the ICRG. Government will have to officially confirm those dates.
Since the coalition came into office last year, FATF has been giving favourable reviews to Guyana on its efforts to address anti-money laundering deficiencies. Last December, Government passed the Anti- Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill of 2015.
The passage of this legislation was seen and noted as a major step, in particular by the Americas Region Review Group (ARRG), the regional arm of the ICRG.
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