Latest update November 19th, 2024 1:00 AM
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Guyana’s Oil and Gas Sector must be protected from Int’l Financial Crimes
– Attorney General
As bribery and corruption risks become an increasing concern for Guyana, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams, has said that the country’s Oil and Gas industry must be protected from international financial crimes under the regime of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) and Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Attorney General Basil Williams
Williams made this assertion during the opening of the National Risk Assessment (NRA) Seminar on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing Terrorism (AML/CFT). He emphasised that Guyana has been removed from the blacklist as a result of a lot of “hard work” and therefore, measures should be put in place to ensure that the country’s emerging oil and gas sector is free from international financial crime.
He asserted that it is of vital importance that Guyana remains off the “blacklist” because the CFATF and FATF requirements to protect the international financial economy are strict. According to him, efforts have to be made to “insulate the country’s oil and gas industry”, especially as Guyana prepares for oil wealth.
The CFATF is an organization of states and territories of the Caribbean Basin that work towards the implementation of common counter-measures against money laundering and terrorism financing. Whereas, the FATF is an inter-governmental body that promotes effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing.
Meanwhile, NRA Coordinator attached to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Alicia Williams, said that a synopsis of the first risk assessment which was conducted over a 12-month period from 2016 to 2017 indicated that Guyana had been tagged as “high risk”. She highlighted that the major factor for the high level rating was as a result of little to no regulations and supervision for AML/CFT purposes within the various sectors.
She further emphasised that the NRA is fully committed to identifying any emerging new terrorist financing threats and money laundering such as oil and gas sector dealings among others.
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