Caribbean Urged to Begin ‘Real Work’ of Tackling Money Laundering

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Perry Holloway

US Ambassador Says Govts Must Act Now to Ensure Financial Institutions are Protected

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA (NEWS SOURCE, GUYANA ) — Guyana and other Caribbean countries currently participating in the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) assessors training session were urged on Monday to begin the real work of tackling money laundering as the countries advance into the fourth round of evaluations.

United States Ambassador to Guyana, Perry Holloway, told the gathering at the Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown that governments must act now to ensure financial institutions are protected from criminal elements.

During the brief opening session, Mr. Hollaway urged the participating regional countries to ensure prosecution of financial crimes through compliance with local laws and regulations.
He said there will always be a need to properly enforce those laws and regulations that addresses financial crimes and make them better. He committed the US support for the efforts of these countries.

The participants were invited from several CFATF member states, and consist of Financial, Law Enforcement and Legal experts.

A total of 53 participants were trained as Assessors during the program and they included participants from Canada, Jamaica, Turks and Caicos, Belize and Guyana.

The aim of the workshop was to equip participants with the tools and competencies needed to undertake an assessment of the technical compliance with the revised FATF Recommendations, and for reviewing the level of effectiveness of a country’s Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime.

Deputy Director of CFATF, Dawn Spicer congratulated the participants for their commitment to the cause. She urged them to take full advantage of the training sessions.

Participants were introduced to the use of the FATF Methodology which is used to assess a country’s technical compliance with the FATF Recommendations, and for reviewing the level of effectiveness of a country’s AML/CFT system under the Fourth Round Mutual Evaluations process.

During this fourth round of mutual evaluations, the FATF has adopted complementary approaches for assessing technical compliance with the FATF Recommendations, and for assessing the level of effectiveness of a country’s AML/CFT regime.

The training included exercises on the use of the FATF Methodology for assessing technical compliance with the FATF Recommendations and the effective of AML/CFT systems, and how to conduct the assessment.