Written by Vanessa Narine
DESPITE the looming deadline and possible sanctions Guyana could face, there have been no major moves with the consideration of the amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) Bill following a meeting of the Special Select Committee on Monday last.

At his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday,  Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon noted that the fact that an agreement to meet after Parliament was adjourned to recess “inspired cautious hope”, but the outcome since has been nothing but unfortunate.
He said at Monday’s meeting members of the Special Select Committee had their attention drawn to sections of the legislation that were already discussed during Parliamentary sessions.
Presidential Advisor and Chairman of the Special Select Committee, Ms Gail Teixeira, in a comment last week, said the focus of the meeting was to fine tune the Bill and reach an agreement on its contents to allow for passage.
Dr Luncheon yesterday pointed out that, contrary to the meeting’s intention, the “delay tactics” of the Opposition reflect the same approach taken when the Bill came up for review at previous sessions.
Luncheon maintained that the non-enactment of the legislation will have serious consequences for Guyana.
Asked to respond to criticisms from the Opposition that documents were being withheld, Luncheon said that members of the Committee were advised of the contents of the documents requested.
He stressed that any attempt by the Opposition to “concoct” an explanation that will lay blame at the current Administration’s door for the non-enactment of the Bill will be a misguided one as the facts are on the table and in the public domain.
“The Opposition, they continued their approach of delays, they obviously feel that they can and will be able to concoct an explanation why it was not their fault, but the Government’s fault for this non-enactment,” the HPS stated
Stakeholders including financial sector bodies and donor agencies have worked with the Government to produce a menu of interventions that broadly embrace the major interventions called for in the multilateral evaluation report by CFATF.
“A one seat majority is all that sits in the way of Guyana’s enactment of the Bill and the prevention of the disasters that have been identified by CFATF,” the HPS said.
Guyana missed the August 26 deadline that was set by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) for the Bill to be passed, but was successful in securing an extension.
Guyana stands to be affected by various sanctions if the bill is not passed before November 18, 2013. The CFATF will call on its members to consider implementing counter measures to protect their financial systems from the ongoing money laundering and terrorist financing risks emanating from Guyana.
The country’s report which was submitted in August was deemed incomplete, and the CFATF insisted on a definitive date by which the amended Bill will be enacted by the Parliament.
Notably, progress has been made in the non legislative interventions which were about 20% of the CFATF’s recommendations. The AMLCFT Bill has been in the hands of the Opposition for several months, and had benefited from detailed scrutiny in the select committee that had met nearly 15 times starting from May 8.
According to Dr Luncheon, it is quite likely that Guyana may return “empty-handed” when it is represented at a meeting with CFATF in mid-November.