President Donald Ramotar has responded to Yesu Persaud’s letter appealing for the anti-money laundering bill to be passed. Persaud had written to the President, Leader of the Opposition David Granger and AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan warning of the consequences of further delays in passing the bill.
President Ramotar’s response below, which was copied to Granger and Ramjattan, was released to the media this evening.
Dear Yesu,
RE: The AML/CFT Amendment Bill
I thank you for your letter dated March 14, 2014.
I am pleased to observe that your letter embraces several positions which I have articulated publicly. For example, you have recognized the importance of passing the bill quickly and that our obligation to do so stems from our international responsibilities and accordingly, ought not to be the subject of political bargain whereby politicians seek to extract political gains for their support of the bill. I also note that you have recognized that the bill tabled by the government, in its current form, is sufficient to comply with the minimum standards of the Caribbean Action Task Force and the Financial Action Task Force.
My position is that this bill in its current form should be passed forthwith.
As regards the amendments proposed by APNU, government is prepared to compromise on these amendments and indeed, we have laid in the Special Select Committee counteramendments. These counter-amendments proposed are designed and intended to address the major concerns raised by the APNU in relation to the strengthening the governance architecture of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FlU) in the legislative regime, while at the same time insulating it from political influence and indeed, any form of politicization, in order to maintain its independence and functional autonomy . In your letter you have correctly underscored the importance of an independent Financial Intelligence Unit.
In this regard, our counter amendments provide for the establishment of an authority as contemplated by the APNU and your letter. However, this authority shall comprise of the heads of agencies who have a role and responsibility in relation to the combating of money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism. We propose that the Commissioner of Police, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Governor of the Central Bank, the Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, the Solicitor General the Head of CANU, the Registrar of Deeds and Companies and a representative from the Private Sector Commission in the area of banking and commerce, comprise of this authority and appointed by the Minister of Finance.
You will observe from our counter proposal that subjectivity and discretion are wholly removed from the appointment process and almost all those persons are statutory office holders. I believe that this formulation addresses the conceptual concern of the APNU in terms of strengthening the governance infrastructure in the law while at the same time, removing the process from the realm of politics.
As regards currency seizures, again, your view coincides with the government’s on this issue. In fact, the current law requires no change on this issue and CFATF did not recommend any in relation to this matter.
Like you, I am firm in my belief that we must root out from our society the use of proceeds derived from criminal activities.
Yours sincerely,
Donald Ramotar
President
Republic of Guyana
