Western missions yesterday urged cooperation by all parties to finalise the anti-money laundering amendment bill, while warning that serious consequences would result from the country being black-listed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The call came ahead of planned meetings scheduled for today and tomorrow by the special select committee set up to complete work on the Anti-Money Laundering/ Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill. Main opposition coalition APNU has pledged its cooperation in the committee but also recently demanded that President Donald Ramotar assents to or commits to a process to assent to bills he has turned away as a condition for its support. With the AFC saying the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission is a prerequisite for its support of the bill, APNU’s votes are crucial if government hopes to pass the amendment bill when the National Assembly meets on Monday, two days before a meeting of the FATF plenary opens in Paris.
Guyana has missed two deadlines set by the Carib-bean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) to have adequate legislation passed and as a result the group has urged its members to consider implementing measures to insulate them-selves against financial risks emanating from the country. Stakeholders in the financial services sector, including the
