Guyanese official’s head to CFATF meeting on Monday

Finance Minister Dr. Ashni SinghGeorgetown: A delegation from Guyana heads to the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force’s (CFATF) plenary meeting in The Bahamas, scheduled for Monday.

And Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh has made it clear that the delegation will make the best case they can for Guyana.
He said, “We will attend and make Guyana’s case and hope that the efforts made by the Government will be considered.”
The delegation is expected to be led by Attorney General Anil Nandlall.
Nandlall and Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Paul Geer, were instructed by President Donald Ramotar to explore “thoroughly” ways of dealing with the impact of the rejection of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Bill.
The Finance Minister stated that CFATF will meet to consider Guyana’s case and he is hopeful that the political will of the government will affect the decision of the taskforce.
“What CFATF ultimately decides, we don’t know,” he said.
Singh addressed the concerns of impact on remittances.
He said, “I would say that, based on previous experience and comparative examples, the government knows definitively that there are significant risks that companies in Guyana will now exact greater risk of transactions with Guyanese companies and Guyanese individuals.”
A letter from CFATF stated that if Guyana is not found sufficiently compliant, CFATF will instruct its member states to take precautions to safeguard themselves from the risks emanating from Guyana.