Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall said unless Guyana attends the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) November meeting with the enacted Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Bill in hand, it will not be able to prevent the adoption of the draft report in which the county is blacklisted.
During an interview on the National Communications Network (NCN), on Monday, Nandlall, who is also the attorney general, noted that this was not even guaranteed.
Review
He reminded that Dominica was in a similar position in May, when the Dominican AG presented the bill passed into law, and he was able to put the adverse statement on hold until the review of that law by the CFATF.
The parliamentary special select committee dealing with the bill reconvened its first meeting after the two-month recess on October 14. Alliance For Change (AFC) leader Khemraj Ramjattan and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) member Debra Backer were absent.
The issue became heated when the time came to fix a date for the next meeting as the opposition members insisted on Monday, October 21, rejecting all earlier dates suggested by the government side.
Committee Chairperson Gail Teixeira was informed on October 21 that it was not convenient for the APNU members to meet, although this was the date that they chose. The next meeting was fixed for October 22 and once again the opposition staged a “no show”.
The bill was transmitted to the select committee for certain aspects to be reviewed, by the combined opposition which used their one-seat majority. Six months after the select committee was established, its task is not completed. Guyana was supposed to submit a report to the CFATF on August 26, and this was done. However, the report did not include that the bill had been passed into law, a requirement which was expected to be satisfied.
Stakeholders ignored
The Guyana delegation, headed by Minister Nandlall, which attended the CFATF meeting in May, had promised that the bill would be passed by the November meeting. Unfortunately, all government’s work in the select committee was thwarted by the opposition members.
Minister Nandlall has observed that both the AFC and the APNU have demonstrated that they are not interested in passing the bill. He noted that the Private Sector Commission, Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association, Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the trade union movement, Berbice Chamber of Commerce, Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce, and the Insurance Association have all issued statements about the urgent necessity for the passage of the anti-money laundering bill.
Draft report
He explained that the CFATF has already prepared a draft report, which will constitute the evaluation report of Guyana. In the conclusion of that report, “Guyana is scheduled to be declared a non-compliant jurisdiction and 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 rationale being used by the opposition to justify the inexplicable position is unknown, the minister declared. Pointing out the AFC’s position that unless the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) is established, it will not support the bill, Nandlall emphasised that there is no link between the bill and the PPC.
While APNU’s position seems to be that its priority is a “good bill”, he said this can only be produced through work on the legislation, which is not being done, “They are not submitting any proposal so the committee can consider its implementation.”
Guyana has already briefly experienced how sanctions could impact business, after the Trinidad Central Bank issued a cautionary statement to its business community. “Immediately, Guyanese businesses… were subjected to a whole host of scrutiny and problems were encountered, bringing transactions between the two territories almost to a complete halt,” Minister Nandlall said.
Blacklisted
Banks, insurance companies, wire transfer agencies, importers and exporters suffered. Fortunately, the matter was brought to Guyana’s attention and a letter dispatched by Guyana’s finance minister quickly dispelled the notion held by Trinidad that Guyana had been blacklisted by the CFATF.
If sanctioned, Guyana will face such a scenario with every country it does business with.
While extra-parliamentary engagements to address this issue would be a remit of the president, Minister Nandlall delclared that parliamentarians should strive to always “advance a position which is in the best interest, and is best for the Guyanese people. This is our only mandate”. (GINA)
