GOVERNOR of Guyana’s central bank, Bank of Guyana (BOG), Dr. Gobind Ganga, has warned that the blacklisting of Guyana will have dire consequences for the country’s financial sector.

“Blacklisting carries an enormous cost,” he told the Guyana Chronicle in an invited comment yesterday. He said the negative review by the regional watchdog body, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), and

Guyana’s referral to the European-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will result in a trickle-down of impacts for all other sectors.
“International blacklisting will not only result in a major cost to the Guyanese economy, but it will result in adverse effects, including a slower financial process,” Dr Ganga said.
“These include making payments, remittances to families, and receipts from exporters. One issue which is likely to occur is an undue delay, particularly in receipts,” he said.
He said too that the efficiency of financial engagement for businesses will be stifled. “We are already feeling the adverse effects with this blacklisting,” he said. “It is not only posing problems in the Banking industry but the business sector also, which plays a vital role in economic growth.”
CFATF, in its pronouncement on Thursday, detailed the counter-measures that can be taken by its members to protect their financial systems from the ongoing money laundering and terrorist financing risks emanating from Guyana.
These include the requirement of enhanced due diligence measures; introducing enhanced reporting mechanisms or systematic reporting of financial transactions; refusing the establishment of subsidiaries or branches or representative offices in Guyana; and taking into account the fact that financial institutions from Guyana that do not have adequate AML/CFT systems and limit the business relationships or financial transactions with the country.
In November 2011, Guyana was first blacklisted at the regional level, when CFATF brought to the attention of its members certain jurisdictions, Guyana among them, with significant strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT regime.

(By Ravin Singh)