A MAJOR political party received “huge sums” of money to torpedo passage of the critically important Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill.

“Information is available that the AML/CFT was torpedoed because huge sums of money were doled out to certain political parties to stymie the process,” Clement Rohee charged.
The general secretary of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) made the disclosure during the party’s weekly press conference, which was held yesterday at Freedom House.
“The AML/CFT Bill, which floundered in the parliamentary process, floundered because huge sums of money were doled out by certain persons involved in drug-trafficking to certain political parties,” he said.
Prior to the prorogation of Parliament, the Bill was languishing at a Parliamentary Special Select Committee, given that no agreement on a final draft of the Bill could be reached.

The enactment of the Bill could have prevented Guyana from being blacklisted regionally by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF). Instead,Guyana is, to date, grappling with regional blacklisting which was implemented by the CFATF.
Moreover, the country is saddled with a range of onerous measures in its financial dealings with Caribbean countries, which have been advised to safeguard their CFATF-compliant status in their dealings with Guyana.
Among those measures are: Enhancing due diligence measures in their dealings with Guyana; introducing enhanced reporting mechanisms, or systematic reporting of financial transactions; refusing to establish subsidiaries or branches or representative offices in Guyana; and taking into account the fact that financial institutions from Guyana do not have adequate AML/CFT systems, and thus limit the business relationships or financial transactions with this country.
Subsequently, CFATF referred the country to the international watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Unfortunately, after a series of missed deadlines and continued gridlock over the matter, Guyana is now subjected to scrutiny by FATF.
The Bill to meet CFATF’s requirements was first tabled in the National Assembly in April 2013, but was referred to a Parliamentary Special Select Committee and was eventually voted down by the combined Opposition in November 2013. The Bill was re-tabled in December 2013, and was again referred to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee, where it has since been languishing.
Senior officials of the Alliance – A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) – which constitute the political arena’s ‘big-wigs’, were unavailable for comment on the matter up to press time.

(Vanessa Narine)