President Ramotar appeals to Guyanese for support of AMLCFT Bill

President Donald RamotarGeorgetown: President Donald Ramotar has called on all Guyanese to stand by the government and show support for the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) Bill which is currently before a Special Select Committee of the National Assembly. As Parliament prepares to reconvene sittings of the House, calls have been made, by various sections of society, for the combined Opposition to also be supportive of the legislation that would bring Guyana in line with other Caribbean countries.

He acknowledged that this development can be threatened if the bill is not passed on time.

“For us to continue in this process though, we will need your support, we will need you to walk hand in hand (with us) and I’m asking you for your support today, because there are issues in our society that can slow down this process and can put, in danger, many of the social and housing programmes that we have,” Mr. Ramotar said.

The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) has already prepared a draft report on Guyana, which will be adopted at its plenary meeting, scheduled to be held in The Bahamas on November 18.

As such, this is Guyana’s last chance to avoid sanctions being imposed, worldwide, against commerce in and emanating from Guyana.

That draft report states, in its conclusion, that Guyana has not implemented the requisite recommendations and the Guyana AMLCTF Bill, which embodies the steps recommended, is still languishing in the Guyana Parliament.

The document, therefore, declares Guyana to be a non-compliant jurisdiction and invites countries to take such counter measures which they deem necessary to protect themselves from the money laundering and terrorism risks which Guyana pose.

Unless the AMLCFT Bill in Parliament is passed, before November 18, Guyana will be unable to prevent that draft report from being adopted and this will have dire consequences on the Guyanese economy.

President Ramotar said many of the arguments put forward by the Opposition parties, with regard to the bill, are being deliberately made more complicated than they actually are.

He explained: “This bill is to bring our legislation at the same level as the rest of the Caribbean’s legislation to fight against money laundering, drug trafficking…it’s to close all loopholes where people are getting illicit funds, either from drug trafficking or whatever…so all the countries in the Region will have one legislation.”

Ramotar reiterated that, if the bill is not passed, many of the banks and financial institutions would have serious problems in doing business, especially on the international front.

“That is why your understanding and your support for these things is extremely important,” he emphasised.