Securities Council unable to fulfill anti-money laundering mandate

Securities Council unable to fulfill anti-money laundering mandate – Chairman

Jul 09, 2018 News

The Guyana Securities Council (GSC) is one of the key agents in managing the financial health of the economy. This involves nipping in the bud, money laundering activities. But the Council is unable to carry out this task effectively.

GSC Chairman,
Rawle Lucas

According to its 2017 Annual Report, the Council is challenged with accommodation restraints, preventing the hiring of additional staff to assist with fulfilling the mandate of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT)Act.
Commenting briefly on the matter yesterday, GSC Chairman, Rawle Lucas said, “We have not been able to effectively carry out our mandate because we have been unable to hire the staff to do the things we need to do. The funds became available in the budget last year for us to hire people. However, with our current complement of staff, the Council is striving to execute its mandate under the Act effectively.”
According to the AML/CFT Act, the Council is deemed a Supervisory Authority for reporting entities which perform business activities specified under the Fourth Schedule of the Act.
These include: venture risk capital; money-broking; and trading in money market instruments, (such as cheques, bills, and certificates of deposit), foreign exchange, financial fixtures and options, exchange and interest t rate instruments, and transferable securities.