THE Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) meeting kicks off in Miami, United States of America, from Sunday May 25, through Thursday May 29. And Guyana is expected to appear before the regional body next Monday (May 26), according to Chair of the Parliamentary Special Select Committee, reviewing the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of

Terrorism (AML/CFT) Amendment Bill, Ms Gail Teixeira.
In an invited comment last evening after the Committee’s meeting, which was held in Committee Room One of Public Buildings, Brickdam, Georgetown, she said: “We’re down to the wire, basically.”
According to her, the Committee has not met since April 30th due to the unavailability of members from A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and at last evening’s meeting the main Opposition’s members were again absent.
She explained that following the April 30th meeting, the next scheduled meeting was postponed following a request by APNU member, Mr Carl Greenidge, after he (Greenidge) indicated that the Select Committee’s meeting clashed with another important meeting that he had.
The Committee Chair pointed out that the agreement was to postpone the next meeting to an agreeable date as soon as possible.
However, Teixeira said no date was agreed to, but given the urgency in ensuring Guyana has an AML/CFT Amendment Bill passed, yesterday’s meeting was summoned.
“Up to today (yesterday) it has been difficult finding a date that the APNU can agree with…they did not attend the meeting today (yesterday), but the AFC (Alliance for Change) was present so we moved on,” she said.

CFATF FEEDBACK
She told the Chronicle that last evening the Committee reviewed feedback from CFATF, following the submission of a report on the AML/CFT Amendment Bill and the proposed amendments to the Principal Act by APNU.
“We shared document we sent to CFATF with the AFC. The regional body responded to us advising which ones (of APNU’s proposed amendments) were not in compliance and which ones they could not make a judgment on,” the Chair of the Committee said.
APNU’s original three amendments proffer a change to the entire governing apparatus of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU); removal of the Attorney General where ever that name appears and replacement of it with the FIU and vesting a Police or Customs officer with the power to seize currency from any person, anywhere in Guyana, if those officers have reason to believe that it is the proceeds of crime or will be used to fund criminal activities.
Ms Teixeira noted too that the Government’s proposals to counter those of APNU, in the interest of ensuring that the amendments made are CFATF complaint and also to move toward reaching a compromise, was also submitted to members.
“In submitting the counter-proposals, the AG (Attorney General Anil Nandlall) reminded the Committee of the deadline that Guyana is up against. He and a delegation are leaving on Sunday…time is running out. We are on the last leg here,” she said.
Unfortunately, the Committee Chair stated that the AFC’s position remains unchanged and they continue to leverage their support for the Bill in exchange for the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC).
“We appealed to Mr. Ramjattan (the AFC Leader), but his position has not changed, despite the fact that we pointed out what is happening at the level of the sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), in terms of looking at the criteria for selection,” she said.
The AFC, which has expressed support for APNU’s position, is demanding the establishment of PPC, which Government has agreed to, providing that Cabinet retains its ‘no-objection’ role in the process but the latter has been rejected by the AFC.
Teixeira bemoaned the position taken, given the looming deadline and the devastating consequences non-passage of the AML/CFT Amendment Bill will have for Guyana.
If the final deadline on May 29 passes, Guyana can be recommended to the international body, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), for review by the International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG). If that is done, Guyana could face further sanctions, including being put on the international blacklist. The country has already been blacklisted regionally by CFATF.
The next meeting of the Parliamentary Special Select Committee is scheduled for Thursday, May 22, following the sitting of the National Assembly tomorrow.
It remains unclear if Guyana will be able to have an amended AML/CFT Bill passed before CFATF meets next week and several stakeholders posit that this eventuality may very well be unlikely.

(By Vanessa Narine )