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…AG, CFATF issue stern warning to Guyana ahead of 4th Round
…spotlight turns on lawyers to help combat money laundering

FULL cooperation is needed if Guyana is to successfully complete the 4th Round of Mutual Evaluation by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) in 2022, CFATF Executive Director Dawne Spicer said, while warning that failure to cooperate could result in the country facing enhanced scrutiny in all finance-related sectors.

During the 4th Round of Mutual Evaluation, CFATF assesses countries’ ‘Technical Compliance’ and ‘Effectiveness’ in combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism. With Guyana having the requisite Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Legislation in place, the focus is now on prosecution and conviction.

In her address to lawyers at a training programme organised by the AML/CFT National Coordinating Committee on Friday, Spicer said a country approach is needed to successfully combat Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing. “This crosses all lines of politics,” the CFATF Executive Director told the lawyers seated in Cara Lodge.

Spicer said there is no time for playing politics. “Silos don’t work well for this process. So if you have silos in this process; if you have people playing politics with this process, I am going to tell you what’s going to happen, you are going to end up on the list. It’s that simple,” the CFATF Executive Director warned.

If placed on a list, the regional and international financial watch dogs (CFATF/FATF) will call on its more than 200 countries to put enhanced due diligence measures in place when dealing with Guyana. “When that happens, it means that the cost of doing business with Guyana will be skyrocketed because nobody would want to do business with Guyana,”

Spicer explained
In Guyana, she said, attorneys are deemed “high risk” with respect to Money-Laundering and Financing of Terrorism. It was explained attorneys fall within the Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs) when they engage in the purchasing and buying of real estate; the management of client’s finances and assets; and the management of bank and savings accounts among others.

Spicer said lawyers must comply with Recommendation 10 (Customer Due Diligence); Recommendation 11 (Record Keeping); Recommendation 12 (Politically Exposed Persons); Recommendation 15 (New Technologies); Recommendation 17 (Third Parties); Recommendation 18 (Internal Controls); Recommendation 19 (High Risk Countries) and Recommendation 21 (Tipping Off and Confidence) as set out by FATF/CFATF. She called on the attorneys to file Suspicious Transaction Reports once they do not breach the confidentiality clause.

Much to be desired
Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams, in his opening address, said attorneys-at-law and all other legal professionals play an important role in countering Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism but the current situation leaves much to be desired. “In Guyana, this sector is not supervised for its compliance with the AML/CFT Act, Cap 10:01 which is based on the standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). If this position remains unchanged then Guyana will find combatting ML/TF to be a difficult task,” the Attorney General said.

He noted that if this trend continues, Guyana, which exited the 3rd Round of Mutual Evaluation in 2016, will have a difficult time demonstrating that its AML/CFT regime is effective in the 4th Round of Mutual Evaluation.

“The urgent need is to ensure that attorneys are taking measures to ensure they are not facilitating ML/TF stems from the results of the National Risk Assessment (NRA) which was completed in 2017,” he posited. The NRA was conducted to provide a comprehensive assessment of Guyana’s Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing risks. Out of the NRA birthed a National Action Plan which was developed to identify and prioritise the steps the Government should take to remedy the deficiencies identified.

As stated by the CFATF Executive Director, the Attorney General said the NRA found that

the vulnerability of Attorneys-at-Law to be used for Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing is very high. He said it has become necessary for lawyers to have an AML/CFT supervisory body. “This action is necessary as the NRA determined that lawyers are exposed to being misused for purposes of facilitating or assisting, directly or indirectly in money laundering activities of criminals,” the Attorney General said.

According to a report by FATF ‘Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Vulnerabilities of the Legal Professionals,’ “criminals seek out the involvement of legal professionals in their ML/TF activities, sometimes because a legal professional is required to complete certain transactions, and sometimes to access specialised legal and notarial skills and services which could assist the laundering of the proceeds of crime and the funding of terrorism.”

Take actions
The Attorney General said it is important to take necessary actions. With Guyana being on a cusp of economic transformation with the development of the Oil and Gas Industry, he said, it is important to make the country a safe and secure place that attracts investors.
“Under the AML/CFT Act, Cap 10:11, Attorneys-at-Law are named as reporting entities and are required to comply with the obligations under the AML/CFT Act and in similar vein to be supervised to ensure they are compliant. Regulation and supervision of this sector is very important as low level of regulation will hinder Guyana from being effective in the fight against ML/FT. The current lack of supervision is a major vulnerability and exposes an overall deficiency in our system which must be remedied sooner rather than later,” the Attorney General told the lawyers.

Embracing AML/CFT regime
President of the Guyana Bar Association (GBA), Kamal Ramkarran, told the Attorneys-at-Law that there is nothing to fear in embracing the AML/CFT regime. He said AML/CFT legislation is a deterrent to financial crimes. Ramkarran called on the attorneys to be vigilant, and aid in the fight to combat Money Laundering and the Terrorist Financing.
Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Barton Scotland; Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit, Matthew Langevine; Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Charles Fund-a-Fatt; and Commissioner of Police, Leslie James were among the officials present at the training. Today, training will continue but this time with accountants.