Bargaining over AML Bill for compromise is democratic – US Ambassador

Using the Anti-money Laundering Bill to negotiate or bargain is nothing new in the democratic process. “It is not only

US Ambassador
Brent Hardt

acceptable, but it is the very essence of democracy,” United States Ambassador to Guyana, Dr Brent Hardt, said on Tuesday.
He was asked to comment on what appears to be the use of the outstanding Bill by the Opposition parties to have their various requests met by the Government.
Ambassador Hardt said that it is through this very process that Bills get through any legislature; it is the process of compromise; give and take, he explained.
The Ambassador added that when US President Barack Obama announced his historic health care Bill, what emerged was far different from what he had originally put forward and he was lucky to get (some 60 percent) of what he had originally set out to accomplish.
Nevertheless, Hardt continued, the Bill has opened new venues for some Americans who can now access health coverage.
“I don’t think that one can say that any Bill is beyond negotiation and compromise. At the same time, the Anti-Money Laundering Bill is very important.”
Amb. Hardt said that the agency, during late 2012, had been instrumental in engagements bringing to the attention of the government and private sector the impending implications of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).
It highlighted some deficiencies for some of the reviews running. He said that was the reason for organizing in April 2013, public engagements on money laundering.
Hardt said President Donald Ramotar was also present and the agency sought to bring technical expertise to look at the whole investigative process. “The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), while there initially, did not engage actively in that (investigative aspect) even though that was part of its purpose; and to me that highlighted some of the challenges Guyana faces.”
“It is not only the passage of the legislation, because it’s really to strengthen the investigative capacity. You can have all the legislation you want, but unless you actually use it and take the information that the FIU collects and in an inter-agency setting develop an investigation which could be turned over to the prosecutor for a case, you’re really, just wasting your time.”
Hardt said that in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, authorities there have been very effective in using money laundering laws to go after drug traffickers.
“That’s actually one of the best ways to go after ‘the bigger fish’ because you can catch a lot of people at the airports and the ports but you really need to get after those who are organizing it and I think money laundering laws should give you the opportunity to do that if you have an effective investigative capacity.”
He added that investigative capacity is not something that Guyana needs to wait for from a Bill. “The (authorities) could be working on that and strengthening that right now”. Along with his diplomatic colleagues, Hardt has been encouraging the government to get the investigative arm working as it moves forward to get the legislation approved.
Guyana may be blacklisted today as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) completes its meeting in Paris. Guyana, on Monday put forward its report on Guyana’s progress with the Bill. The Opposition parties, the Alliance for Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) refused to give their support for the Anti-Money Laundering Bill since they were not satisfied with contents forwarded by the government.
They also refused to give their support since the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government would not compromise on what the Bill should say, nor would they agree to pass the pending Local Government Bills and to set up the Public Procurement Commission.