CFATF goes ahead with Guyana blacklisting

Guyana has been under CFATF pressure since at least November 2011, when the organisation drew attention to deficiencies in its anti money laundering (AML) legislation. CFATF drafted a legislative programme that the country’s government would have to implement to rescue its reputation. New measures were needed, it said, to fully criminalise money laundering and terrorist financing offences, to address the matter of beneficial ownership, and to strengthen the requirements for suspicious transaction reporting, international cooperation and the freezing and confiscation of terrorist assets.

The resulting Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill was presented to Guyana’s National Assembly, despite the government’s lack of a majority. The bill was defeated by the opposition parties.

A further CFATF warning was issued in November 2013, when CFATF put Guyana on a non-mandatory regional blacklist by advising its 27 member states to ‘consider’ implementing financial counter-measures against the jurisdiction’s financial sector. This advice was repeated by at least one national regulator, the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission.

The last warning was issued in February this year, after a further government attempt to enact the bill was sabotaged by last-minute opposition amendments. At that point, Caribbean Community countries issued a joint statement warning Guyana of the problems that formal blacklisting would pose, not just for the country but for the whole region.

However, Guyana’s government has been unable to make progress. Last week, as a result, CFATF ordered Caribbean nations to impose special measures on the country’s financial system. These include stricter due diligence measures; systematic reporting of financial transactions; refusing Guyanese companies permission to set up local branches; and limiting business relationships or financial transactions with persons in Guyana.

Guyana Prime Minister Samuel Hinds has previously warned that blacklisting will have ‘serious consequences for financial transactions for consumers, businesses and the government’s provision of services’.

CFATF also urged Guyana’s government to try yet again to force the necessary AML legislation through parliament, though it does not explain how parliamentary opposition to the bill can be countered. Meanwhile it has referred the country to the global FATF to consider the possibility of wider sanctions.

• CFATF has approved the Belize government’s efforts to tighten its AML legislation, and has withdrawn its November 2013 threat to blacklist the jurisdiction.