CARICOM: Fix money laundering issues

Barbados’ trade and its financial services sector could be negatively affected unless Guyana fixes concerns about its anti money laundering apparatus.
That’s the concern of the CARICOM officials,  who have urged the country where it is based to reach “an early resolution of the issues surrounding the implementation of recommendations to address deficiencies” in its anti-money laundering regime.
The issue was raised following a recent meeting of the Bureau of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. It relates to Guyana’s implementation of Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) recommendations.
In a statement on the issue, that body said “CARICOM has taken note of CFATF’s consideration of Guyana’s progress in implementing recommendations to address deficiencies in its anti-money laundering regime.
“CARICOM has also taken note of the efforts made by the Government of Guyana to implement the said recommendations, including by tabling in the National Assembly a bill to amend the legislative framework, which bill has since been rejected by the National Assembly, given the parliamentary and political configuration that obtains in Guyana.
“CARICOM is deeply concerned about the impact that any adverse action by CFATF member states could have on the Guyanese economy, and by extension the CARICOM region as a whole, particularly in the areas of trade and financial services,” it added.
The bureau said any action which reduced the ease or increases the cost of processing international financial or trade transactions “will adversely affect trade and financial flows in the region, retard the regional integration enterprise and reverse the gains made by Guyana and the region”. (SC)