Government continues to fail in its efforts to get the select committee as an instrument of the parliamentary political parties, to consider newer perspectives with regards the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) (Amendment) Bill, according to Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon.

“The Government has been attempting to engage with new initiatives but the necessary engagement meetings have yet to take place. The sad reality is that the June 19 sitting of the National Assembly would not be graced by a report by the committee considering the Bill,” Dr. Luncheon lamented.

He explained that Guyana will not be able to take a Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) compliant legislation to Financial Action Task Force (FATF’s) plenary which is scheduled to be convened next week.

This loss, he said “is going to contribute to a heightening to blacklisting of Guyana and its financial sector.”

Even after Guyana was referred to FATF for further review and the issuance of the most recent adverse statement on Guyana, talks at the committee level are more or less the same as they have been since the Bill was tabled.

Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh at a recent press conference said that, “we do not enjoy the luxury of dismissing the views of CFATF or FATF. We are part of an international system; Guyana is not isolated from the rest of the world, and as long we are part of this system, we must abide by international norms.”

[Extracted and modified from GINA]