Govt. unveils five-year plan to tackle money laundering

Mar 10, 2023 News

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Kaieteur News – Money laundering, terrorism financing and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction have a negative effect on the economy. These reprehensible crimes directly and indirectly contribute to the erosion of the rule of law, threaten political instability, encourage corruption and weaken the financial sector.

With this in mind, the Government of Guyana has over the years sought to assess the threats of money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Having assessed these risks by conducting two National Risk Assessments (NRAs), Cabinet recently adopted a comprehensive ‘National Policy and Strategy for Combating Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing, and the Financing of Proliferation’ of weapons of mass destruction.

According to the document, the Policy and Strategy is a five-year plan that aims to further enhance and improve Guyana’s Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation of Financing (AML/CFT/PF) regime by addressing the risks identified in second NRA Report and implement the strategy in conjunction with Guyana’s Risk Based Action Plan.

Guyana is a member of the International Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) under which falls the Caribbean Financial Action Taskforce (CFATF) of which Guyana is a member and as such would have to subscribe to set criteria prescribed by the institutions. With this in mind, government said its new policy seeks to ensure that Guyana achieves a high level of compliance with the FATF Standards on combating ML, TF and PF; “and to effectively meet the key objectives of Guyana’s AML/CFT system in practice.”

To this end, the National Policy and Strategy provides a guide of the actions required to be undertaken to improve Guyana’s effectiveness in mitigating ML, TF, and PF.

“This National Policy and Strategy is a dynamic document reflecting Guyana’s efforts to combat ML, TF and PF risks and the progress in those endeavours. It will be reviewed every three (3) years to determine whether any amendments may be required to properly satisfy each objective,” it said.

Those identified as part of the process includes; The Attorney General’s Chambers, The Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Revenue Authority, the Ministries of Natural Resources and Finance and AML/CFT Supervisory Authorities such as the Bank of Guyana, among a host of other organisations.

Guyana as a country was prior to 2016 listed on FATF’s ‘Grey List’ when it came to compliance.

Having exited CFATF’s third round, follow-up process in 2016, after significantly addressing AML/CFT deficiencies identified by those bodies.  The strategy as presented notes that Guyana subsequently commenced the preparation process for its CFATF’s fourth Round Mutual Evaluation, which is scheduled for the third quarter of 2023, by conducting two ML/TF National Risk Assessment (NRA) exercises between 2016 and 2021.

According to Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, “we recognise that we cannot operate in a vacuum, and cooperation is important domestically and internationally, particularly with our regional counterparts where effective and timely information sharing can make a vast difference in the detection and prevention of all crime, more specifically, financial and organised crime.”

He said too, in the document that “additionally, we recognize that this National AML/CFT/PF Policy and Strategy can only be successful when linked to the strategic objectives of other important elements in the battle against money laundering (ML), terrorist financing (TF) and proliferation financing (PF).”

To this end, he said the administration has been implementing measures to combat related and predicate criminal offences. These efforts, Nandlall said, have been recognised, “resulting in Guyana enjoying improved rankings in international reports such as the United States’ Department of State International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) and the Transparency International Corruption Index. Similarly, Guyana has been removed from the European Union’s Blacklist on Taxation.”

He said that over the years, government has taken steps to equip its citizens with AML knowledge through outreach programmes, not only in the main cities but in the interior regions and “by these measures and more to be conceived, designed and implemented, in the immediate and long-term future, the Government of Guyana demonstrably indicates an intolerance to criminal activities, and assures that the country’s systems and citizens will be protected from the ill effects of ML, TF and PF.”

Additionally, the Attorney General noted that as the nation enters a period of renewed prosperity for the country with its highly publicized discovery of offshore oil deposits, “we commit further to becoming the new frontier of integrity, prudence, fortitude and commitment to the rule of law in the preservation of our resources, the protection of our citizens and the advancement of their welfare.”

With the implementation of the newly adopted National Policy and Strategy, Nandlall is of the view it will not only bring “us in compliance with international obligations devolving upon Guyana, but will be the menu of organised strategic and targeted actions, that will create a robust and resilient protective network, that will insulate Guyana, and in particular, its financial system from being contaminated by the proceeds of crime.”

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• Anil Nandlall, Attorney General, laundering, Minister of Legal Affairs, money

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