Guyana now at the mercy of CFATF

–-‘It is out of my hands’

“GUYANA is now left at the mercy of the discretion of the CFATF…It is out of my hands!” declared Attorney-General, Mr. Anil Nandlall Thursday of his impending meeting with the regional watchdog, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force.

The meeting at reference, which begins tomorrow in Freeport, Bahamas, and ends Thursday, will see the Attorney-General Anil Nandlall having to explain to the CFATF why the proposed Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) (AMLCFT for short) Bill has not yet been passed into law.
The Opposition, in the National Assembly on November 7 by way of vote, rejected the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill.
They also rejected the petition being presented to the House by the Private Sector Commission, as well as calls from the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), the Rice Producers Association (RPA) and the ‘Man-in-the-street’.
Addressing the issue during a televised programme Thursday on the National Communications Network (NCN), Minister Nandlall said that in May during a meeting with the CFATF in Nicaragua, he had been granted a six-month reprieve to get the Bill passed. “Not in my wildest imagination did I predict that the Opposition would have behaved the way that they have done,” he said.
He now has the unenviable task of reporting to a group of approximately 40 persons representing the interest of 26 countries. As he was at pains to explain, he has no sensible reason to put forward as to why the Bill was rejected by the Parliamentary Opposition.
He said the reasons put forward by the Alliance for Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) would be reflected in the parliamentary proceedings and meetings which would be presented to CFATF. The AFC’s call for a Procurement Commission does not link to the AMLCFT Bill, while the APNU’s call for the return of the Bill to Select Committee would see minutes reflecting that the Bill had already been there.
“I may very well be asked,” he noted wryly: ‘Are you speaking of a National Assembly? Or are you speaking of a National Asylum?’”
The AG expressed interest in the reaction of Guyanese when the consequences of the sanctions would have to be borne by all persons on the social and economic ladder.
AG Nandlall reminded that the draft report that has already been prepared declares Guyana non-compliant and countries have been invited to adopt counter measures to protect themselves from the risks of money laundering and financing terrorism emanating from Guyana.
The recommendations from CFATF are in two sections, legislative (the Bill) and non-legislative (the Financial Intelligence Unit- FIU, and Special Organised Crime Unit -SOCU), he pointed out, and added that while CFATF is already aware of this, the Bill would allow the Agencies to exercise their mandate.
Government is trying to put in place some of the recommendations contained in the Bill, through mechanisms that will not require parliamentary intervention or will minimise it, “since the National Assembly has become a hazardous place. CFATF will be informed that their recommendations have been rejected by the Parliamentary Opposition”, the AG stated. He added that CFATF had reviewed and approved the Bill.
AG Nandlall said the situation with respect to the non passage of the Bill was bizarre and questioned whose interest the Opposition was representing. “Having rejected the voice of the business community, the voice of the labour movement, the voice of the farmers and the voice of the man in the street, the opposition has effectively rejected the voice of the Guyanese constituency. These groupings represent almost all of Guyana. I am now forced to conclude that they are representing the interest of a few who wish to continue to hide monies derived from illicit activities and the criminals, while wounding the interests of all Guyanese. This injury inflicted upon Guyana and its people must not go without a remedy,” he said.
The CFATF has already prepared a draft report, which will constitute the evaluation report of Guyana. In the conclusion of that report, Guyana is scheduled to be declared a non-compliant jurisdiction and member states worldwide are invited to implement against Guyana such countermeasures that they deem necessary to protect themselves and their business entities within their respective jurisdictions from the money laundering and terrorism risks which Guyana will pose.

(GINA)