Financial Intelligence Unit advertises for legal advisers, analysts

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), meant to be the nub of the battle against money laundering, has advertised for legal advisers and financial analysts.

An advertisement appearing in yesterday’s Kaieteur News said that the main responsibility of the legal adviser would be to provide advice to the FIU in relation to anti-money laundering legislation, assist in the drafting of legal and regulatory documents and to oversee the obligations of reporting entities.

The financial analysts would be required to examine all financial information received by the FIU and to advise on appropriate action.  It would also be required to review financial and other intelligence received from reporting entities and other relevant authorities and to prepare reports for investigation and prosecution.

The FIU has come under close scrutiny in the aftermath of the political row over the anti-money laundering legislation. The opposition has charged that the FIU has not been functioning and is in a state of quiescence. They point to the lack of a single prosecution of any launderer  on the basis of information from the FIU despite the clear evidence of drug trafficking and the snaring of drug traffickers abroad during the period the unit has been in existence.

Moreover for most of its existence, the FIU has only had a staff of two. It has not had many legal advisers and financial analysts and critics have said this is evidence that there was no work going on. Yesterday’s advertisement will be seen as further evidence that the government is under pressure to present the FIU as a unit capable of taking on money-laundering. The opposition is unlikely to vote for amendments to the money-laundering bill unless it is assured that enforcement of the law is reasonably guaranteed. The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force which is the regional body overseeing anti-money laundering efforts has itself pointed out weaknesses in Guyana’s framework.

Up to the start of 2011, the FIU had only two employees and it was only in the following two years that more staff was hired and its budget significantly increased, according to two reports recently tabled in Parliament.

The FIU report for 2011 stated that there were only two employees at the start of 2011, its Director Paul Geer and an administrative assistant. While having only two employees for some time before 2011, three employees were taken on in 2011 – a financial analyst in April of 2011, a database administrator in June 2011 and a legal advisor in September 2011.  So whereas the budget of the FIU was $29.1M in 2011, it zoomed to $55M in 2012 with the bulk of the additional expenditure channelled to employment costs. In 2011 the employment cost was $16.7M while in 2012 it was more than double – $34.3M. There was also further hiring in 2012. A second financial analyst was hired on March 1, 2012. So whereas prior to 2011 there was no financial analyst, by March 2012 – following the growing international scrutiny – there were two.