PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar on Saturday said there is agreement with the Main Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), to ensure that the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill is passed by the National Assembly before the meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) later this month.

Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Bishop Juan Edghill, has also weighed in on the matter, stressing the importance of the passage of the Bill becoming reality, given the consequences for Guyana if it were to enter the FATF review process, having already been referred to Paris-based organisation on May 29.
“Inasmuch as we have been referred to FATF,” Minister Edghill said, “we are still working to ensure that we don’t enter into the FATF International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) review. We are hoping not to enter, but to do that, we must pass the Bill.”
The enactment of the AML/CFT (Amendment) Bill before CFATF’s meeting last week, by all accounts, could have averted Guyana’s referral to CFATF, particularly since the body noted that 90 per cent of the deficiencies identified are legislative in nature.
The Bill, to meet CFATF’s requirements, was tabled in the National Assembly in April 2013, but referred to a Parliamentary Special Select Committee and eventually voted down by the Joint Opposition in November 2013. The Bill was re-tabled in December 2013, and again referred to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee, where it has been since.
Noting that exiting the FATF review system would not only take several years, but also cost taxpayers a pretty penny, Minister Edghill said:
“The only thing that could possibly prevent our entry is if we show up in June with a Bill. Once we are in, exiting takes years, particularly because Guyana would have to go through layers of reviews, dependent on requirements.”
Using Trinidad and Tobago and the toll blacklisting took on the nation as a case in point, he said, “It would cost us tens of millions.”

DOUBLE JEOPARDY
Once Guyana enters the FATF review process, Minister Edghill said, not only will the country have to worry about exiting the process and paying millions to do so, but it will also have to face a situation reflective of double jeopardy, considering the challenges for the economy.

By way of explaning what he meant by double jeopardy, the minister said, “At the same time we are being reviewed, the economy will be strangulated, because of the sanctions that come with such a review. Our developmental agenda will be affected, among other things. There is no doubt that there will be a devastating impact on for domestic financial markets.”
He made it clear that Guyana will face the risk of being disadvantaged twice, simultaneously. Already, Guyana is battling the consequences of regional blacklisting last November by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).
Currently, the nation is grappling with the beginning of the implementation of counter-measures as advised by CFATF when it referred Guyana to FATF on May 29. Through a missive to its members, the counter-measures against Guyana that were advised by CFATF 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.
FATF’s next plenary meeting is slated for June 23 to 25, 2014 in Paris, France, at which time the international body is likely to put Guyana up for review by its International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG).
Meanwhile, the National Assembly is scheduled to sit next on June 19, 2014.
Written By Vanessa Narine