(Jamaica Gleaner) The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has approved an on-site visit to assess the effectiveness and sustainability of the measures Jamaica has implemented to address deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and countering of the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime.
It brings Jamaica closer to removal from the international watchdog’s grey list.
The approval for the FATF’s Americas Joint Group to conduct the on-site assessment was made on Friday at FATF’s February 2024 Plenary meeting in Paris.
A media release from Jamaica’s finance ministry said the move is based on the fact that Jamaica has largely completed the 13-point action plan agreed with the FATF in February 2020.
It said, as of today, Jamaica is compliant or largely compliant with 37 of the 40 FATF recommendations.
“Significantly, today Jamaica is fully compliant with both Recommendations 24 and 25 which address the transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and arrangements, a very rare achievement within the global network of countries. With regards to the three Recommendations with which we are partially compliant, Jamaica has already taken important steps towards compliance,” the ministry said.
The outstanding items are Recommendation 7- Targeted Financial Sanctions related to Proliferation; Recommendation 8- Non-profit Organisations (NPOs); and Recommendation15- New Technologies.
“Today’s development is further evidence of the fact that whatever Jamaica focuses on, Jamaica can achieve. We have made considerable progress over the past few years in improving Jamaica’s AML/CFT framework through focus, determination and collaborative effort with support from our bilateral and multilateral partners,” Minister of Finance, Dr Nigel Clarke commented.
He said Jamaica is ready to showcase to the Americas Joint Group the success and growth of the various initiatives the country has implemented, as the final step in the process for de-listing.
“The FATF will have its next Plenary in June 2024 and I look forward to their press release at the end of that Plenary, while we continue to steadfastly build on the solid foundations we have laid,” Clarke said.
The FATF is an intergovernmental organisation tasked with monitoring countries and organisations suspected of fraudulent financial practices, such as money laundering, funding terrorist groups, or financing weapons of mass destruction.
