In the midst of Carnival celebrations, there is news that this country has been removed from the grey list by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which means T&T is no longer subject to active monitoring.
FATF is an inter-governmental body which sets standards for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
According to the AG, in the past four years under the Dr Keith Rowley administration, the Government had achieved "massive improvements in all key areas covering international cooperation—beneficial ownership information of corporate entities; money laundering prosecutions and convictions, confiscation and forfeiture applications; and on-going terrorism financing investigations and specialised courts with administrative support for financial crime."
This country will remain directly involved in the work of the FATF and CFATF through the Head, Anti-Terrorism Unit in the Ministry of the Attorney General.
No one can discount the work done by Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and his office, which spearheaded the effort by implementing the regulatory and legislative measures which were required to achieve this objective.
On Saturday, in praising the Government and the AG's office, the American Chamber of Industry and Commerce noted that there was never any need for this country to be on the "grey list."
AMCHAM said that "as the largest economy in the English-speaking Caribbean with the strongest financial sector, we must ensure that our regulatory environment is efficient, modern, and robust. "
To this end, the organisation said the "measures taken to enhance our FATF compliance are a significant step in this direction."
For the business community, the removal of this country from the grey list coming so soon after the proclamation of the Fair Trading Act is a positive step in enhancing the regulatory environment.
AMCHAM said it is now looking forward to the passage of the Tax Information Exchange Bills within the next week, given the signals already sent by both the Government and Opposition to support the bills. According to AMCHAM, it is critical to have the country removed from the EU list of non-co-operative tax jurisdiction.
Simply put, if this happens it means that the banking system will be in a better position to do international business and it will reduce the administrative burdens of doing business in this country.
The Government boasts that it remains committed to putting in place effective measures for taking the profit out of all criminal activities and stopping the illicit flow of money through criminal enterprises. One hopes that this means it is also taking steps to ensure white-collar crime and corruption at all levels are dealt with, given the toll which it takes on the public purse, taking resources away from those who need it most.
In this season of revelry, few may be concerned about the impact of crime and corruption on the economy, but it's critical that it must be dealt with.
For now, though, the merry monarch reigns. King Carnival is centre stage, and while the police and other security agencies go about the task of protecting the citizenry, we look forward to a safe and successful Carnival, given the impact of those tourist dollars on the economy.