ON Friday, the National Assembly passed the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Amendment Bill, thereby clearing the way for the establishment of an Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation Financing Co-ordination Committee.

The Bill was passed 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)’s 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 3 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 the removal of the Authority and the establishment of a Committee.

Since the coalition government came into office, Guyana has taken her rightful place among member states that are compliant with the AML/CFT regulatory institution, and though much more work still needs to be done, one cannot help but notice the high commendation this country has been receiving for its success thus far.

The passage and assent in 2016 of the AML/CFT (Amendment) Bill has seen Guyana being removed from the monitoring categories of the Paris-based FATF and the CFATF last month and this month respectively.

According to the FATF’s website, Guyana’s removal had to do with the significant progress the country has made in improving its regime to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

Guyana had, since 2009, been recalcitrant about complying with the regulatory institution, and was, in 2013, placed on the CFATF’s monitoring list.

In February 2014, when CFATF’s Financial Advisor Roger Hernandes visited Guyana, he informed the government that the country’s status was likely to remain for a minimum of two years, and that its removal was contingent upon the implementation of AML/CFT laws.
When countries become members of international organisations, it is incumbent upon them to adhere to the agreements they have signed on to. That the government, in 2009, felt it could have gotten away with not honouring its commitment to these international organisations hurt the society.

When the proverbial hammer hit in 2014, and the business community reacted out of concern as to the additional requirements needed to trade at the international level, Guyana was four years behind in honouring its obligation. What this highlights is that political grandstanding and inaction carry with them dire implications.
It is reasonable to think that the government of any country whose formal economy was moving in tandem with the underground/narco economy, which world governments would have been aware of, would be mindful of the security implications such developments would have on the people and the state, and that its international integrity would move it to correct that situation.

According to renowned economist Professor Clive Thomas, in a study done between 2001 and 2008, the underground economy was back then worth approximately $188B (US$940M).

The society was also aware that persons of questionable character interfaced with officialdom; the most notorious of those “questionable characters” was Roger Khan, who, in 2009, was jailed in the US.

So emboldened was he by his political connections,that he took out a full-page newspaper advertisement claiming that he helped the government in crime-fighting, a claim that the government of the day never refuted.

One would also recall then Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon being the first person to qualify the wanton shootings and mayhem across the country as the handiwork of “phantom” or “death” squads.

In 2004, a presidential inquiry was commissioned into the role, if any, the then Minister of Home Affairs Ronald Gajraj played in the phantom squad. Although he was vindicated, a minority report submitted by commission member Justice Keith Massiah, brought into the public domain evidence that gave rise to a conclusion that was contrary to the findings of the official Commission of Inquiry.

The aforementioned happenings would aid in arriving at an understanding of why international organisations are determined to have Guyana, as a member state, conform to international standards, once it remains in these associations.

The financial integrity of a country and those who do business within and with it has a significant bearing on the legitimacy of its money.

In 2016 also, United States Ambassador to Guyana, Perry Holloway, and Finance Minister Winston Jordan signed an agreement to implement the US Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Minister Jordan advised that the agreement would help combat money laundering and tax evasion and avoidance. This is another step in ensuring the integrity of the movement of money.

Local banks are also expected to modify their policies in dealing with customers, to ensure both the integrity of money passing through them and the person or persons engaged in the transaction. This is a feature the banking institutions of all FATF and CFATF member states, and those who entered into the FATCA agreement, would have to conform to.