Guyana has been blacklisted by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) for its failure to enact full anti money laundering legislation. The decision by the Financial grouping came down on Wednesday in The Bahamas. Attorney General Anil Nandalall confirmed the development to News Source.
The Attorney General Anil Nandalall attended the Bahamas meeting of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force but his efforts to get the grouping to give Guyana more time to get the legislation in place failed.
With Guyana being declared a non compliant member the group has said “member states worldwide are invited to implement against Guyana such countermeasures that they deem necessary to protect themselves and their business entities within their respective jurisdictions from the money laundering and terrorism risks which Guyana will pose.”
The Opposition parties had used their majority in the National Assembly to vote down the Amendments to the Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill. The Opposition had raised a number of concerns about the Bill in its current form and called for the full bill to be reworked before amendments were added.
The Government then warned that the move by the National Assembly not to enact full legislation would lead to the black listing by CFATF.
The blacklisting of Guyana could pose major problems for the country’s financial institutions and businesses. Already a number of countries had already placed local companies that they do business with under scrutiny.
There is the concern that the move could affect money transfer and banking operations if their parent companies begin to worry about money laundering in Guyana.
The Government of Guyana is expected to issue a full statement on Wednesday night on the development.
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