Sir Ronald Sanders concerned over FATF approach to the Bahamas and Guatemala

Saturday, January 17, 2004

MIAMI, USA: At the end of a meeting in Miami of the Steering Group of the Caribbean Financial Action Task (CFATF), the Chairman Sir Ronald Sanders has expressed concern about the approach of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force to The Bahamas and Guatemala.

The Bahamas and Guatemala are two of the thirty Caribbean Basin member jurisdictions of the CFATF, while the FATF is a group set up by the G7, the world's richest nations.

Both the CFATF and the FATF were established to initiate standards and practices to fight money laundering and to counter terrorism financing.

Guatemala is the only member country of CFATF that continues to be listed by the FATF as a "non-cooperative country" in the fight against money laundering and other financial crime.

Sir Ronald said today, "The economy of Guatemala is being adversely affected by the fact that FATF continues to list it as a non-cooperative jurisdiction. Guatemala has been urging the FATF to review its arrangements in February so that it could be de-listed at the FATF Plenary meeting in March in Paris. But, instead of fulfilling its mandate to help to get countries off its blacklist, some FATF members want to re-evaluate The Bahamas". 

The CFATF Chairman declared, "I do not understand this desire to re-evaluate The Bahamas which FATF had earlier taken off its list. What is more from CFATF's own evaluation of The Bahamas, we are aware that The Bahamas has exceeded the requirements of the FATF's 40 recommendations on money laundering and its 8 recommendations of counter terrorism financing. The Bahamas already regulates lawyers, stockbrokers and others and it has devoted a great deal of resources to international cooperation. In this connection, it does far more than some FATF countries".

Sanders explained that he has been "mandated to write to the President of the Paris-based FATF to indicate CFATF's concerns that the de-listing of Guatemala is being delayed while there is an inexplicable focus on The Bahamas despite all that the Bahamas government has done".

Sir Ronald also said that the Steering Group has made a decision to attend a meeting of a Working Group of the FATF in Japan later this month where work is continuing to devise a methodology which will be used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to judge anti-money laundering standards and practices in CFATF countries.

"We will attend this meeting in Tokyo to ensure that Caribbean views continue to be heard and to ensure that a methodology is not applied to us in which we have not at least sought to protect the interests of the Caribbean people", Sanders concluded. 

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