In an effort to cushion the impact that might follow due to Guyana’s failure to enact the Anti-Money laundering and Countering The Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, the government has agreed to the creation and operationalisation of a Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), with support from multilateral and bilateral partners.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon made this disclosure during his weekly post-Cabinet press conference at the Office of the President on Wednesday.
According to Dr Luncheon, the SOCU will investigate suspected financial transactions suggestive of money laundering and financing of terrorism, in keeping with Guyana’s treaty obligation to the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).
He disclosed that the SOCU will operate under the purview of the police commissioner. The unit will also be working closely with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
The FIU was established under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act of 2009, with the primary objective to monitor the financial sector.
According to Dr Luncheon, SOCU will raise the bar from monitoring to investigating. “FIU in its remit obtains information about suspicious financial transactions; there is a statutory obligation for the financial bodies and para-financial bodies to have surveillance by supervisory bodies through which this information is made available to the FIU. They compile that information of suspect financial transactions and that information is passed on to SOCU,” he explained.
SOCU, armed with that information, would then conduct investigations to determine the nature of the identified financial transaction.
According to Dr Luncheon, the recruitment process for investigators to constitute SOCU will commence shortly, noting that the process is expected to be completed by year- end.
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) leader David Granger on Tuesday said the coalition is willing to re-examine the money laundering legislation at the level of the parliamentary special select committee.
APNU and the Alliance For Change (AFC) members of Parliament used their one-seat majority to vote down the bill.
Granger told Guyana Times International that there are unresolved clauses in the bill to be dealt with at the parliamentary committee. Asked whether Guyana would be able to meet the November 17 deadline; he said CFATF is more concerned about compliance and a legislation that is enforceable.
Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman has indicated that the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill can be re- tabled, but stressed the importance of a common understanding between People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/ C), APNU and the AFC parliamentarians.
