Hon. Attorney General, Mr. Rupert Jones reports that at the Forty Second Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) Plenary in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, held during the week of November 23rd -26th,2075, the CFATF membership approved that Anguilla exit the Third Round Follow-Up Process, having completed all of its reporting requirements.
CFATF is an organization comprised of about twenty-seven states and territories of the Caribbean Basin which have agreed to implement common counter-measures against money laundering and terrorist financing. CFATF conducts periodic reviews, known as Mutual Evaluations, of each member jurisdiction’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/CFT) legislation and practices. In cases where a jurisdiction fails to take sufficient steps towards improving its AML/CFT compliance regime, CFATF can issue a statement citing the Jurisdiction’s significant strategic deficiencies in its AML/CFT regime. This may have serious ccnsequences on the jurisdiction’s financial services industry.
Since its most recent Mutual Evaluation in July 2009, Anguilla has made significant progress towards meeting all international standards that apply to AML/CFT including enacting, amending and irnplementing legislation to strengthen its AML/CFT legislative framework, in particular:
1 . Amendments to the Proceeds of Crime Act, AML/CFT Regulations and AML/CFT Code.
2. Enactment of the Money Services Business Act, Non-Profit Organizations Regulations, the Erternally and Non-Regulated Service Providers (“ENRSP”) Regulations and Administrative Penalties Regulations.
3. Amendments to the Customs Act, Criminal Code and Financial Services Commission Act.
Other accomplishments worthy of mention include:
? The establishment of an AML/CFT and Legal Unit by the Financial Services Commission in 2010 to deal with the implementation of a regulatory regime for Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Prof-essions (DNFBPs) and Non Profit Organizations (NPOs). This Unit has since been actively involved in outreach activities to educate the industry, including licensees of the Commission, DNFBPs and NPOS, on how to meet international compliance standards to address the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing activities. The Llnit also is responsible for supervising Cominission licensees, DNFBPs and NPOs fbr compliance with AML/CFT regulatory
? standards and will take enforcement action where breaches of legislative requirements occur.
? A signed MOU between the Chairman of the Money Laundering Reporting Authority and the Commissioner of Police that provides for appropriate autonomy of the Financial Intelligence Unit, responsible for the receipt and review of Suspicious Activity Reports from participants in the financial services industry in Anguilla.
? The extension of the Palermo Convention of 2000 on Transnational Organized Crime and the Terrorist Financing Convention of 1999 by the United Kingdom to Anguilla.
At the Plenary, the Government of Anguilla reiterated its commitment to adhering to international standards and working closely with CFATF to ensure compliance with international standards on AML/CFT. I wish to thank the members of the Anguilla Delegation to the CFATF Plenary for their professional representation of the jurisdiction leading to its successful exit from the Third Round Follow-Up Process and for their ongoing work to ensure Anguilla’s ability to meet Fourth Round requirements.
I would like to thank the staff of the CFATF, especially Dawne Spicer, Deputy Director, for assisting the jurisdiction to meet the standards necessary to exit the Third Round Follow-Up Process.
I also wish to thank Her Excellency, the Governor, and Hon Ministers/Members of the Executive Council under both the previous and present Administrations, the Financial Services Commission, Financial Intelligence Unit, members of Chambers, and all other officers or officials who have contributed over the past several years to this significant achievement for Anguilla.
Rupert Jones
Hon Attorney General
1 December 2015
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
