GOVERNMENT’S 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 appear unavailing.Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at Office of the President yesterday, said that for Guyana, a CFATF-FATF compliant anti-money laundering legislation is an absolute must in order for the country to exit the blacklisting trap which it is currently in.

“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.

As a result any expectation for the enactment and assent of the AML/CFT Bill in a timely manner has again been lost.

The HPS said that what is significant about this loss is 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 at 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.” (GINA)