…CFATF top brass plugs collaboration to combat financial crimes

By Lisa Hamilton
TOP officials of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) said that unity on the agenda of crime and security is crucial to the body fulfilling its mandate in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

This point was emphasised at a news conference held at the Marriott Hotel immediately following the formal opening of the CFATF conference. Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams, who has taken over chairmanship of the body, told the news conference that he recognises his imminent obligations and the tremendous collaboration which will be needed in the work of the grouping.

Also present at the conference was outgoing Chairperson of CFATF and Attorney General (AG) of the Turks and Caicos Islands Rhondalee Brathwaite-Knowles; Executive-Director of CFATF, Calvin Wilson; in-coming Deputy Chair and AG of Barbados, Adriel Brathwaite and the AG of Trinidad and Tobago, Faris Al-Rawi.

Williams said that CFATF is a large organisation which, under his leadership, must be able to represent its members, contribute to the narrative in FATF and be proactive in implementing policies that will guide them. Based on the active support received thus from the outgoing Chair, Rhondalee Brathwaite-Knowles and the other members, Williams believes that the Region is very capable of doing so. Now at the Fourth Round of Mutual Evaluation, Guyana will be especially tested on the effectiveness of its laws established to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

AG of Trinidad and Tobago, Faris Al-Rawi, said that much of the work of CFATF coincides with the very work that Guyana is hoping to accomplish. “…this work impacts upon crime; this work seeks to take the profit out of crime; this work seeks to deal with the threat of foreign terrorist fighters; the financing of terrorism and the Caribbean…is not immune to this phenomenon. Trinidad and Tobago has been treating with this issue and we have…forged a relationship that can reset the purpose of this entity,” commented Al-Rawi.

In recent years, the twin-island republic has been in the international spotlight for its role in the contribution of Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) to ISIL. Since then, the country has taken judicial action against these operations through the implementation of Anti-terrorism Laws.

And, as Guyana emerges as a major frontier market in the oil industry, Al-Rawi cautioned the country and other Caribbean member states to take the threat of terrorism seriously.
“Bear in mind that the example that you see in Trinidad is one which can easily find itself in other jurisdictions. We must be eternally vigilant and proactive and there must be no room for tolerance of terrorism…Guyana is well on the track to taking this seriously and your attorney general, in particular, as the person driving that charge, is taking the matter seriously as well.”

Unity on the agenda of crime and security is a matter that the incoming Deputy Chair, Adriel Brathwaite, AG of Barbados is surprised that the Region has not pooled efforts and resources towards alleviating. Brathwaite believes that CFATF also serves the agenda and working together as Caribbean countries on the issue would guarantee unified progress.
“If we don’t get this right at CFATF, it can affect your way of life, if we don’t get it right in terms of the crime and security agenda, the kind of violence that you see…perpetrated on our own citizens by our citizens…can have a really negative impact on you and I,” Brathwaite stressed.

Brathwaite-Knowles, however, related that resources happen to be one of the biggest challenges that members of CFATF face. “We need trained prosecutors, we need trained police officers, we need judges, [we need] the court systems to work effectively, we need to be able to freeze assets and we need to confiscate…we need to effectively carry out the various things that are set out for the legislative framework.

So all of our jurisdictions are grappling with issues regarding efficiency of resources, scarce resources…all of these issues come down to resources,” the outgoing chair said. She agreed with the Barbados AG, stating that regional cooperation and coordination through bodies such as CARICOM, is essential to correcting this. She further advised that it was the Region, as a whole, that would either benefit or suffer as a result of their collaboration. Executive-Director of CFATF, Mr. Calvin Wilson, along with the rest of the dignitaries present congratulated Williams on his assumption of the chairmanship and pledged their support in all things to come.