Georgetown: A Guyanese delegation will be heading to Florida, in the United States, later this month to discuss the findings of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) reviewing body, the Americas Region Reviewing Group (ARRG), which conducted a targeted review of Guyana’s financial architecture as it relates to its anti-money laundering posture.
According to Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr Roger Luncheon a local team will be meeting with the ARRG to review Guyana’s response to the body’s submission on the country. He said Cabinet composed the team during its sitting on Tuesday last.
The ARRG has conducted a targeted review of Guyana that was ordered by FATF following the country’s continued failure to obtain the parliamentary Opposition’s support for the enactment of an updated, compliant Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF)/FATF legislation. The report prepared by the ARRG calls for a significant amount of information about the ‘stata quo’ on anti-money laundering and Guyana’s responses to obligations under CFATF/FATF.
“The focus of the meeting at the end of this month in Florida would be reviewing Guyana’s responses to the ARRG submissions and that activity will be definitive, because the ARRG would, armed with the results of that targeted review, submit their findings to the October Plenary of FATF,” he disclosed.
Guyana has been once again invited to this FATF plenary, where, according to Dr Luncheon, a judgement or some conclusion might be provided.
Dr Luncheon pointed out that Government could not have pressed further for the Anti-Money Laundering Bill to be brought up again before the National Assembly ahead of the FATF October Plenary, explaining that this period is when members and Parliament staff are usually on vacation.
In addition, the Cabinet Secretary pointed out that Presidential Adviser Gail Teixeira has informed Cabinet of failed attempts to get the members of the Opposition to meet at the level of the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC).
“(Teixeira) updated Cabinet on her continued failure to have the parliamentary Opposition members of the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on the amended Anti-Money Laundering Bill meet. Her latest effort for our October 10 meeting of the PSSC has failed,” the HPS explained.
He went on to say that getting the Opposition members on the committee to meet is like “pulling teeth”, adding that the parliamentary opposition is clearly most disinclined to see progress at the level of the PSSC.
The team heading for the US at the end of September comprises Legal Affairs Minister and Attorney General Anil Nandlall; Head of the Financial Intelligence Unit, (FIU) Paul Ghir; FIU Legal Adviser Alisha Williams and Head of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), Assistant Commissioner Sydney James.
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