Guyana attends 55th CFATF meeting in Cayman Islands

Nov 29, 2022 News

…in preparation for 4^th round mutual evaluation

Kaieteur News – Guyana is participating in the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) 55th Plenary and Working Group Meetings being held in the Cayman Islands from November 27 to December 1, 2022.

The meetings come ahead of Guyana’s fourth-round mutual evaluation scheduled for 2023.

This is the first Plenary and Working Group meeting held by the body since November 2019. The Plenary which opens on Wednesday November 30, 2022, will follow the working group meetings such as the Heads of FIU forum, a working group of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issues, International Cooperation Review Group, Steering Group, and CFATF Risks Trends and Methods Group.

L-R Mr. Karim Baksh, Head of the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU), Mr. Matthew Langevine, Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Ms. Natasha Backer, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions; Hon. Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC, MP, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs; Ms. Alicia Williams Head of Compliance -FIU; Dr. Gobind Ganga, Governor of the Central Bank and Mr. Rommel St Hill, Anti-Money Laundering/Caribbean Financial Task Force (AML/CFT) Officer in the Attorney General’s Office.)

Guyana’s delegation is headed by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC and includes Dr. Gobind Ganga, Governor of the Central Bank, Matthew Langevine, Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Alicia Williams, Head of Compliance, FIU, Karim Baksh, Head of the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU), Natasha Backer, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions and Rommel St Hill, Anti -Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Officer in the Attorney General’s Office.

The Ministry of Legal Affairs in a Press Release said that at the meetings, countries who are in the assessment process get the opportunity to discuss key issues identified in their Draft Mutual Evaluation Report- countries that have already been assessed under the fourth-round process provide updates on progress made since their evaluation; delegates are provided updates on outcomes for the FATF various meetings, and on new and emerging money laundering threats in the region.

Further, the meetings provide opportunities for member states to discuss the implementation of new recommendations and strategies and difficulties that may arise in relation thereto. Cooperation and the building of institutional relationships for exchange of information that may assist in new or ongoing investigations are enhanced.

The meetings also allow delegates the opportunity to benefit from the discussions of the mutual evaluation of two of its close neighbors, Suriname and Venezuela, whose Reports are currently being discussed and will be featured prominently at the Plenary. Both countries have been flagged with various identified deficiencies.