Guyana “well-prepared” for AML/CFT evaluation – AG says as agencies sign MOU

With Guyana’s Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) evaluation just around the corner, Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC is assuring that Guyana is well prepared, both legislatively and administratively, to face evaluators.
On Tuesday, agencies involved in enforcing AML/CFT laws were brought together to sign a cooperation and information-sharing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), while a second MoU was signed by competent authorities, law enforcement agencies, and supervisory authorities.

These MOUs, aimed at facilitating greater inter-agency cooperation, comes ahead of Guyana’s fourth round of mutual evaluation, starting next week. According to Nandlall, whose chambers hosted the signing and a subsequent workshop, a lot of work has gone into preparing Guyana for the evaluation being done by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).
“We have been working over the past two years in preparing our country for this important assessment. And that’s why I want to thank you for the work you have done, but the last lap is also very important. We have been meeting with individual groups, to ensure that we dot all the Is and cross all the Ts as we prepare for the on-site examination which will begin on Monday.
“You will have received various documents in writing, assisting you in your preparation. I just want to emphasise that when we begin our engagement with the assessors, let us remember that we are all one team and we are Team Guyana. There may be a tendency to protect one’s agency, and in so doing throw another agency under the bus, let us avoid that,” Nandlall told the agency heads.
Nandlall further emphasised that previous CFATF findings on Guyana have been considered and legislative changes made. Assistance has also been provided to Guyana in this regard by international agencies, including the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
“We have strengthened the laws in particular in all the areas that they have flagged in the past. A major area they had flagged in the past has been our inability to do forfeiture and seizure of assets that may have been acquired from the proceeds of crime. We have corrected that in our legislation in a major way, using perhaps the most modern provisions in the Caribbean. We were assisted in this regard by the World Bank, by the IDB, by the Regional Security Service,” the Attorney General said.

The agencies signing the MOU included the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Guyana Police Force (GPF), Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the Guyana Gaming Authority, and the Bank of Guyana.
During his recent Issues in the News broadcast, Nandlall had explained what methodology CFATF would use for the mutual evaluation.
“It is going to be an onsite evaluation, and a number of important agencies in our financial and fiscal structure will be engaged, will be interviewed, and will be examined by these assessors. These assessors will be drawn from several territories in the Caribbean, and they’re acting under the umbrella of the CFATF.
“The agencies that would be under examination in Guyana would include Guyana Police Force, SOCU, GRA, Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit, the Banking Sector beginning with the Central Bank, the Geology and Mines Commission, the Gold Board, the Gaming Authority, The National Securities Council, and many other important organisations within the state structure and private sector.”
Nandlall noted that while a lot of preparatory work has been done by the agencies, work is still ongoing. However, the Attorney General was optimistic that Guyana would do well during the approximately two-week-long mutual evaluation.
Guyana is scheduled to undergo an onsite evaluation and examination of its financial sector in September. In preparation therefor, the Government has worked to ensure that the country’s AML/CFT framework is updated. This included implementing a number of administrative decisions and measures, as well as strengthening many aspects of its legislative architecture.
One critical element to Guyana’s fourth round of mutual evaluation was the enactment of a Real Estate Bill. The draft Real Estate Agents & Brokers Bill was prepared in consultation with the various stakeholders in the local real estate industry, and was published for public feedback prior to its passage in the National Assembly earlier in August.
Another initiative aimed at addressing the gaps in Guyana’s financial sector in accordance with the AML/CFT stipulations was the establishment of a Compliance Commission that will supervise the operations of agencies and/or sectors in the country that do not have a direct regulatory body. The Compliance Commission Bill 2023 was also passed.