President says AML/CFT Bill can be passed in 24 hours

PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar, last evening, said the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill can be passed within 24 hours to save Guyanese from the hardships of the consequence of the country being internationally blacklisted.The Guyanese Head of State is of the view that it can be done on the premise that the Bill, currently languishing at the level of the Special Select Committee of Parliament, has been deemed compliant by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).

President Ramotar said the Bill’s passage can be achieved if the Opposition parliamentary parties were to “show a sense of nationalism in the interest of Guyana and Guyanese”.
Opposition Leader David Granger told the media at a press conference yesterday that the Bill can be passed in 48 hours. Granger is adamant that in order to get Opposition’s support, the Government must accede to the Opposition’s several demands!
The Alliance For Change (AFC) party on the other hand, said 72 hours is enough for the Bill’s passage, but restated that the Public Procurement Commission must be established.

On Thursday, President Ramotar issued a call for the Opposition to unconditionally pass the Bill, to limit the harm already done by the latest move by CFATF.
During an address to the nation, the Head of State said, “that in spite of regional, international and local voices, the Opposition stubbornly refused to support the passage of a CFATF compliant Bill. In so doing, they have now put in danger our country’s financial system. Moreover, they have now endangered the very welfare of all of our citizens”.
His announcement came on the heels of the conclusion of the 39th Meeting of the CFATF held between May 26 to 29, 2014, in Miami, which saw Guyana being the subject of a CFATF review, as a result of the National Assembly not passing the AML/CFT Bill, and being referred to the Paris-based FATF.
CFATF issued a public statement informing the world that Guyana poses serious risks to the international financial system, and called upon the rest of the world to take measures to protect their systems from those risks.
Measures that will be implemented against Guyana include the requirement of enhanced due diligence; introducing enhanced reporting mechanisms or systematic reporting of financial transactions; refusing the establishment of subsidiaries or branches or representative offices in Guyana, or otherwise taking into account the fact that the relevant financial institution is from a country that does not have adequate AML/CFT systems and limiting the business relationships or financial transactions with Guyana or persons in our country, among others.
The Government has done everything possible to pass the critically needed legislation through the National Assembly, and at the eleventh hour the Opposition proposed recommendations.
In February, CFATF Advisor Roger Hernandez was invited to look at the Opposition’s amendments, and during a meeting held of the Special Select Committee, Hernandez expressed the view that the Opposition’s amendments were not CFATF compliant.