Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams

– AG finally concedes

By Devina Samaroo

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams has finally conceded Guyana is not fully compliant with Financial Action Task Force (FATF)/Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).

He was at the time briefing the media at his Ministry on Monday.

According to the Attorney General, there are a number of recommendations the country still needs to fulfil, however he noted that Guyana is making significant progress.

Notably, when the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Amendment Bill was finally passed in Parliament and became law this year, the Attorney General issued a statement which read: “Guyana is now fully compliant with the FATF’s requirements.”

Guyana is currently on the FATF light grey list (those that have developed an action plan) and on the CFATF enhanced follow-up list, Williams stated.

He explained that Guyana will remain on these lists until it deals with the outstanding recommendations.

However, he quickly pointed out that it appears it is an ongoing process: “Its unending… this is a regime to ensure that the international financial system is not affected by terrorist financing and money laundering and that appears to be ongoing.

He explained that Guyana is in the third round of evaluation where it is being assessed on its ability to meet the relevant requirements. Based on the country’s performance, it will then move into the fourth round of evaluation where it is being assessed on its effectiveness and implementation of the said recommendations. But Williams was unable to say how many rounds of evaluation there are, which led to his conclusion that the process is never-ending.

“I asked the same question (about the number of rounds) and that’s why I could tell you it’s unending,” he stated.

Furthermore, in explaining why Guyana is not fully compliant with CFATF/FATF, Williams highlighted that several recommendations might have several components, therefore if a country satisfies nine of the ten components; it would still be rendered “not fully compliant”.

Meanwhile, he disclosed that Guyana still needs to address the issue regarding the length of time it takes before assets can be frozen or seized.

According to the Attorney General, there is a discrepancy regarding the time for the freezing of assets of a person listed by the United Nation Security Council Resolution. He explained that the entities in Guyana are required to check the site and once they recognise a name and they are holding assets for that person, then they are required to notify the relevant authority. The authority will then have to verify the information and if confirmed, pass instructions onto the entity to freeze the assets in five days. However, according to Williams, Guyana allows for this to be done in seven days.

Another issue is the need for established criteria for persons entering into supervisory authorities like Insurance Companies to prevent the likelihood of it being used as vehicles for terrorist financing and money laundering activities.

Moreover, Williams disclosed that following a meeting with CFATF in Trinidad and Tobago recently, the body lauded Guyana for its efforts in complying with some of the requirements.

Guyana is now required to report to the next CFATF plenary in May on its compliance status, Williams noted.