In order to win the fight against money laundering, terrorism and violent extremism, Caribbean states must work together to ensure there is a strong criminal justice system which is up-to-date and equipped with the necessary resources, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Baroness Patricia Scotland said yesterday.
“We have a duty to be vigilant guardians protecting the safety and well-being of all our people and ensuring that we have the capacity to safeguard our institutions in order to prevent them from being exploited…”, Scotland said during an address to judges and prosecutors attending the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop organized by Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat, Caribbean Development Bank and the Guyana Government.
The conference comes just days after Britain instructed its territories in the Caribbean – including CARICOM associate members – to open up their business registries to aid transparency and the fight against money-laundering.
