Latest update April 17th, 2025 9:50 AM
Guyana remains on good footing with FATF
…on-site visit to be made in two weeks
Attorney General Basil Williams yesterday announced that Guyana remains well on its way towards
Attorney General
Basil Williams
exiting the clutches of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regime. He said that Guyana is adequately prepared for the FATF five-member team visit on September 14-15.
The purpose of the visit is to verify whether Guyana is implementing the reforms recommended in the Action Plan it agreed to with the FATF.
The visit will also confirm whether there is political commitment to sustain the reforms.
According to the Attorney General, Guyana has prepared for this visit by having its Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) conduct sensitization meetings with key agencies including the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU), and the Bank of Guyana. Williams said that those agencies are now well aware of their AML/CFT obligations.
There were also meetings with Cambios, pawnshops and money transferring agencies. The Attorney General told the media that he is satisfied by the measures these agencies have put in place .
During its upcoming visit, the FATF team will meet with the Compliance Team, which Williams heads. FATF members will also meet with the Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan and the Director of Public Prosecutions. The team is also expected to meet with other Supervisory Authorities including the Bank of Guyana and Securities Exchange Council as well as Reporting Entities such as Republic Bank, GBTI, Western Union Money Transfer and Confidential Cambio.
Williams told the media that the result of the on-site visit will be on the agenda at the next FATF Plenary meeting scheduled to take place in October 2016 in Paris. He reminded that at the FATF Plenary and Working Group Meetings hosted by Korea in June, the Plenary adopted the FATF/ICRG Co-Chairs’ Report that it recognized.
Williams boasted that at that meeting, it was agreed that Guyana has substantially completed its Action Plan at the Technical level. The Plenary also decided that in line with the procedures for removing jurisdictions from FATF’s International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG) process, an on-site visit will take place in Guyana prior to the October 2016 meeting in order to verify that the implementation of its AML/CFT reforms has begun and is being sustained and there is political commitment to sustain implementation.
Williams also announced that he will be attending two important CFATF Ministerial Meetings in Miami, Florida from September 6-9, 2016.
The Ministerial Meeting of CFATF will be held on September 7 and topics for discussion will include an overview of the core work of the CFATF, Activities of its Steering Group and the strategic plan.
Williams also indicated that the Council of Ministers Meeting of the CFATF will be held on September 8 and agenda items include De-Risking/Loss of Correspondent Banking Relationships, Transparency and Beneficial Ownership and Fourth Round Mutual Evaluation.
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