Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams S.C. and members of the Ministry of Legal Affairs Compliance team held a one-day Anti-Money Laundering Outreach and Sensitisation Seminar on Tuesday at the Little Rock Suites, New Amsterdam, Berbice.
Accompanying Minister Williams was Special Advisor to the Attorney General on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), Tessa Oudkerk; Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Charles Fung-A-Fatt S.C.; Principal Parliamentary Counsel, Joann Bond; Director of the Bank Supervision Department of the Bank of Guyana, Ramnarine Lal; Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Matthew Langevine; Head of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) , Sydney James; Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Teshanna Lake and Chief Co-operatives Development Officer, Perlina Gifth.
In a release, the AG chambers said the aim of the seminar was to inform the reporting entities of their obligations and responsibilities. The seminar highlighted the importance of the fourth round of AML/CFT mutual evaluations and its requirements in order to ensure Guyana’s preparedness for the fourth round by 2022.
The attorney general in his opening remarks emphasised that the main work of the CFATF is mutual evaluations. He expressed the need for Guyana to work towards successfully exiting the fourth round of mutual evaluations and not fall back into the abyss of being a blacklisted country. The attorney general solicited the cooperation of the reporting entities present at the meeting to realise this goal.
Langevine for his part described the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as an inter-governmental body established by the ministers of its member jurisdictions, with associate members such as the CFATF. He explained the process of the fourth-round mutual evaluations which assess a country’s Technical Compliance and Effectiveness. During the seminar, Lal provided in detail, the obligations and responsibilities of all reporting entities, while James and Ms. Lake provided insight into their respective roles and functions of SOCU and the office of the DPP.
It was repeatedly emphasised by the panellists, that the results-based nature of the fourth round, is the yardstick by which effectiveness is measured and country ratings are applied, the release started. According to the AG’s chambers, the outreach saw a large turnout from various reporting entities within the Port Mourant to New Amsterdam area of East Berbice, Region Six. The participants were appreciative of the exercise and suggested that similar exercises be conducted in the future, the release noted, adding that the question-and-answer session was vibrant with reporting entities candidly stating their concerns and the panellists responding in kind.
