GUYANA has been removed from the ongoing global Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism compliance process of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF);and the global body has also hailed Guyana for the significant progress it has made in addressing the strategic deficiencies in the regime bequeathed it by the former administration.

This development is a major step in Guyana’s fight against financial crimes.

“The FATF congratulated Guyana for the significant progress it has made in addressing the strategic AML/CFT deficiencies earlier identified by the FATF and included in its action plan. Guyana will no longer be subject to the FATF’s monitoring under its on-going global AML/CFT compliance process. The country will work with the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), of which it is a member, to further strengthen its AML/CFT regime,” the global body said in a statement made at the end of the October 19-21 Plenary held in Paris.

President David Granger had met last month with FATF/ICRG officials who were in Guyana to conduct a site visit to assess the progress made by the country to bring itself into compliance with the requirements of the FATF and the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF). A report on that assessment was presented at the Paris meeting during which Guyana was cleared.

Attorney General Basil Williams had previously noted that the FATF/ICRG team had subsequently indicated to the authorities that Guyana had successfully implemented all the recommendations the body had made regarding strengthening of its AML/CTF framework. At a news conference held just before he departed for Paris to attend the FATF meeting, the AG had said “…we hope now that in Paris that report will be conveyed to the ICRG (International Cooperation Review Group) meeting and plenary, and [we] have an opportunity to be removed from the list.”

The delegation that visited last month included CFATF’s Financial Adviser Roger Hernandez, CFATF’s Executive Director Calvin Wilson, Americas Regional Review Group (ARRG) Assessor Gonzalo Gonzalez de Lara, and FATF’s Senior Policy Analyst Kevin Vandergrift. Gonzalez de Lara had said last month that the team was pleased with the Guyana Government’s efforts and the work being done by the various law enforcement agencies. He had also said that the FATF/CFATF recognised that all of these changes had been achieved in a relatively brief period of time.

President Granger had, during the FATF/ICRG’s visit, reiterated his administration’s commitment to compliance with the AML/CFT requirements and its importance to Guyana’s security. “We welcome your coming here and the work you are here to do, and we look forward to favourable outcomes…. We are committed to ensuring that there is full compliance in every respect,” President Granger had said.

He had reminded the team that, as a small country with porous borders, Guyana is vulnerable to transnational crimes such as human trafficking and contraband smuggling; and, as such, the country has been doing its best to tackle those problems within the limit of its resources.

Minister Williams had noted last month that while there was still some resistance to the new measures, the Government has been doing a lot of work to ensure that the population gets a better understanding of the importance of fighting money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Since coming to office in May 2015, the coalition Government has taken steps to ensure the country’s financial systems become fully compliant with AML/CFT regulations. Among the steps taken are enactment of the AML/CFT legislation, appointment of a director and deputy director for the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), and making the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) functional.