– with passage of AML/CFT Amendment Bill

THE way has now been cleared for the establishment of an Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation Financing Co-ordination Committee, now that the National Assembly has passed the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Amendment Bill.

The bill was passed on Friday despite major objections from the parliamentary opposition – the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) – on the basis that it not only replaces the AML/CFT Authority with a Co-ordination Committee, but is in breach of the constitution.

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams, in defence of the bill he tabled, told the House that in January 2018, the Government of Guyana was informed by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) that the AML/CFT Authority was not in compliance with Recommendation 2 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 40 recommendations.

Recommendation Two states that countries should designate an authority to have a co-ordination [body] or other mechanism that is responsible for national Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation Financing Policies.
“The CFATF commented that the authority as presently constituted was too narrow in scope and applies solely to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU),” Minister Williams told his colleagues sitting on both sides of the House.

It was on this basis that Clause Three of the Bill amends Section 7A of the Principal Act by substituting it with a new 7A in keeping with recommendation two, the Legal Affairs Minister said, while noting that the amendment now allows for removal of the authority and the establishment of a committee.

The committee will comprise the attorney- general and legal affairs minister as the chairman, the director of public prosecutions, the Governor of the Bank of Guyana, the Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, the Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Head of the Special Organised Crime Unit, the General Manager of the Guyana Gold Board, the Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, the Chairperson of the Guyana Securities Council, the Gaming Authority and the Chief Cooperatives Development Officer.

The committee, when established, will be mandated to develop Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism, and Proliferation Financing Policies informed by the risks identified by the National Risk Assessment (NRA), develop a national plan, co-ordinate Guyana’s participation in the international effort against money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation-financing issues and dissemination of relevant information to the public.

Clause Four of the Bill makes provision for funding of the committee, while Clause Five of the Bill deals with the financial year of the committee.

Another critical aspect of the bill addresses targeted financial sanctions related to proliferation in keeping with recommendation seven, which calls on countries to implement targeted financial sanctions in compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) relating to the prevention, suppression and disruption of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and its financing. UNSCR 1718 and 2231 mandate countries to freeze without delay.

As such, Clause 13 of the Bill seeks to amend the Principal Act by inserting after section 68D new sections, namely 68E, 68F, 68G, 68H and 68I to fulfil the freezing obligations under UNSCR 1718 and UNSCR 2231.

“It mainly provides that no person or entity shall deal with the property of any listed person or entity and establishes the procedure for the DPP to apply for a judge in chambers, within five days, for a freezing order in respect of the funds or other assets of a listed person or entity and for the judge to immediately grant the freezing order,” the attorney general explained.

But the justifications put forward by the attorney general did not sit well with the opposition. PPP Member of Parliament Bishop Juan Edghill told the House that the bill was being debated at a time when the House was expected to adopt the 6TH Report of the Standing Committee on Appointments, which addressed the appointment of members to the AML/CFT Authority.

Edghill reminded the House that it was the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government, which had amended the AML/CFT Act in 2015 to make provisions for the authority.

Bemoaning the fact that the Bill provides for the attorney general and legal affairs minister to Chair the Co-operative Committee, the PPP Member of Parliament pointed out that the authority is headed by an individual elected from the 10 persons who were selected through a rigorous parliamentary process.

Those persons were drawn from the Guyana Private Sector Commission, the Guyana Association of Bankers, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana, Transparency Institute of Guyana Incorporated, the Bar Association of Guyana, the Insurance Institute of Guyana and the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers.

Edghill contended that in addition to empowering himself, the attorney general and legal affairs minister, under the amended legislation, would not be responsible for the payment of salaries and allowances to the staff of the Co-ordination Committee.

Weighing in on the issue, PPP back-bencher Harry Gill objected to Clause Four, Section Seven B of the bill, contending that the committee should not be funded from monies and properties seized.

“To get more funding they would have to seize more bank accounts and the committee would be a breeding ground for corruption,” he told the House.

Like Edghill and Gill, the opposition’s Chief Whip Gail Teixeira and former Attorney General Anil Nandlall took umbrage with the structure of the Co-ordination Committee.
Nandlall went one step further and accused the attorney general and by extension the government of creating a breach of the constitution, stating that while it is important for the country to comply with its international obligations, it must be done in a way that does not infringe on the rights of Guyanese and constitutional agencies and institutions.
Referencing a section of the bill, Nandlall pointed out that “When the Director of the FIU gets information about someone in Guyana having assets and that person is listed on the UNSCR, the Director shall notify the DDP and provide all information received from the person or entity of the person’s contracts or accounts involved and the total value of the funds and other assets…and the DPP shall immediately on that notification by the director apply a freezing order to a judge in relation to those funds.”

For Nandlall that is a major problem. He argued that the DPP is an independent constitutional office holder, and as such is not subject to the direction of any other authority.

Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, told his colleagues that the bill was necessary to bring the country on par with its international obligations, noting that the government would ensure that the necessary systems are put in place to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism.

Minister Williams, in his rebuttal, told the House that the PPP is misinformed, and it is a clear indication that its members did not thoroughly read the bill. He told his colleagues on both sides of the House that no effort should be spared to combat money laundering.
The Legal Affairs Minister also made it clear that in his capacity of Chairman of the Co-ordination Committee, he would be mainly dealing with policies.