The virtual assets sector has been identified as an emerging money laundering threat in Guyana by the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism National Coordination Committee in the second National Risk Assessment (NRA).
“As the world shifts towards measures of financial inclusion, new and emerging technologies have played a distinct role in the financial services industry. As a result, some companies have started to shift the focus away from traditional fiat to virtual assets, which in some cases are backed by complex algorithms to provide their value,” the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (ML/TF) NRA report said.
It noted that the country’s virtual assets sector remains unregulated and given the increased attention the country will gain from investors all over the world, it is likely that the use of virtual assets for payments of goods and services will emerge in Guyana, if it has not already.
The report said, this may provide further avenues for unsuspecting persons to invest in Ponzi schemes relating to such assets, as well as being used by Romance schemes and Forex investments schemes as part of scams to relieve persons of the traditional fiat.
“Guyana needs to be vigilant and guard against the misuse or abuse of its financial services,” stated the report.
