THE Financial Action Task Force (FATF) accepted Guyana’s referral from its regional body, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) – an ‘effective’ blacklisting, and is expected to begin a targeted review of Guyana soon, the results of which will be presented at a FATF meeting in October this year.

However, President Donald Ramotar yesterday made it clear that Guyana is “not out of the woods” as yet.
“CFATF, on its website said that they have forwarded Guyana’s case to a FATF review and FATF has accepted their position, which means that we are not out of the woods just yet,” he said at a news conference at State House.
Guyana’s non-compliance with international standards, 80 per cent of which would have been addressed with the passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill resulted in its referral to FATF on May 29.
According to the President, FATF is expected to write Guyana officially this week, but until Guyana is in possession of the letter, the specifics of the review are still to be ascertained.
“I do not know what form the review will take, probably people will come here to look at what we are doing….there is another meeting in October and I suspect that this is where, after the review, the report will be made. We are not out of the woods though,” he said.

[box type=”shadow” align=”alignright” ]“I do not know what form the review will take, probably people will come here to look at what we are doing….there is another meeting in October and I suspect that this is where, after the review, the report will be made. We are not out of the woods though.” “These dangers are real…we cannot sit on our hands and do nothing, so we continue to fight, advocate and argue that Guyana has a unique situation and in many ways we have been getting some measure of reprieves. Unfortunately, it is being turned around on us to say the Government is creating hysteria. This is not so. The things we are talking about are really, real. They are there and we will continue to first try and pass the Bill”-President Donald Ramotar[/box]

NOT INCLUDED
Guyana was not included in FATF’s public statement that was issued on Friday.
However, on the same day CFATF updated its statement on Guyana to indicate that the country’s referral to FATF was accepted.
The President noted that he is “not unhappy” that Guyana was not included on FATF’s dreaded public statement, but stated that the review process by the international organisation still continues.
“If you look at the CFATF website they are saying the review will start…hopefully by next week (this current week) the process will be clearer,” he said.
Mr. Ramotar dismissed the notion that Guyana’s non-inclusion on FATF’s public statement invalidates the emphasis Government has placed on the enactment of the AML/CFT (Amendment) Bill.
“These dangers are real…we cannot sit on our hands and do nothing, so we continue to fight, advocate and argue that Guyana has a unique situation and in many ways we have been getting some measure of reprieves. Unfortunately, it is being turned around on us to say the Government is creating hysteria. This is not so. The things we are talking about are really, real. They are there and we will continue to first try and pass the Bill,” he said.
The Head of State made it clear that the Government’s position on compliance is unambiguous and very clear.
Additionally, the counter-measures advised against Guyana by CFATF last November, which officially regionally blacklisted Guyana, remains in force.
These include, among others: 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 the country concerned, 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 the identified country or persons in that country.
In November 2011 the CFATF first brought to the attention of its members certain jurisdictions, including Guyana, with significant strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT regime with a view to encouraging expeditious rectification of the identified strategic deficiencies Guyana and the CFATF developed an Action Plan with identified target dates to address the strategic deficiencies that exist in Guyana’s national architecture to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. However, Government and the combined Opposition have been gridlocked over the compliance in the areas requiring the passage of legislation.

ALL EFFORTS MADE
In the non-legislative sphere, the Head of State pointed out that his administration is making all efforts to ensure that it does what needs to be done to ensure compliance with FATF standards.
“The things that we have to do, the things that are non-legislative, the things that are administrative and in our (Government) domain are being put in place. For example the SOCU (Special Organised Crime Unit) would be set up shortly and all the other non-legislative measures that have to be put in place are in place,” he said.
Mr. Ramotar contends that Guyana has an obligation to comply with international standards, albeit that Guyana’s economy is a small one that does not pose a huge threat to the stability of the global economy.
He said: “This is an international process. These are things that are in the hands of the international community. It is not for me….it is not totally in our hands. The decisions are taken at CFATF and FATF level.”
The Bill, to meet the requirements the FATF-Style Regional Bodies (FSRB), CFATF, was tabled in the National Assembly in April 2013, but referred to a Parliamentary Special Select Committee and eventually voted down by the combined Opposition in November 2013. The Bill was re-tabled in December 2013, and again referred to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee, chaired by Ms. Gail Teixeira, where it has been since.
Government had repeated its willingness to have the Bill passed, and has demonstrated its commitment to same, but up to the last meeting of the Select Committee, no moves have been made with the Bill.

QUESTION OF MOTIVES
The Head of Sate questioned the motives of the combined Opposition in withholding their support for the critically important Bill.
“A lot of what they are saying about why they don’t want the Bill may be, I am beginning to form the opinion, that their initial reasons are not the reasons they don’t want the Bill,” he said.
Both Opposition parties, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC), have linked conditionalities to their support for passage of the AML/CFT (Amendment) Bill.
APNU proposed three amendments, which were included in the Party’s draft amendments to the Principal AML/CFT Act, which President Donald Ramotar said would be supported by his Government if the Party would agree to pass the AML/CFT (Amendment) Bill but this was rejected.
Additionally, APNU’s position is an ‘all-or-nothing’ one, as the Party maintains its demands not only for their Bill, but also restated its call on the President to give his assent to several Bills passed in the National Assembly, including the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill 2013, which states that elections must be held on or before August 1, 2014. The Head of State has already forwarded his explanation for his non-assent to the National Assembly.
On the other hand, the AFC, which is fully behind APNU’s position, is demanding the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC), which the government has agreed to, providing that Cabinet retains its no-objection role in the process; but the latter position has been rejected by the AFC. However, on May 29, after the announcement by CFATF, the AFC, in a statement, noted that it is now willing to budge on its position, and support Cabinet’s retention of its no-objection role.
At the October meeting, Guyana will know its fate and whether it will be officially blacklisted by FATF.
Written By Vanessa Narine