The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has removed T&T from its grey list and concluded that this country is no longer subject to active monitoring.
The Attorney General’s Ministry announced this yesterday.
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.
The ministry stated TT had failed the FATF’s mutual evaluation process in January 2015 under the past administration and was placed on a grey list in 2017.
However, FATF cleared TT this month.
“The Government is pleased to announce this milestone achievement which means TT wasn’t blacklisted by FATF and is now in good ratings on the international front,” the ministry added.
The process involved four years of “intense dialogue” the ministry stated, “This concluded with an intensive two-day on-site examination in TT by FATF during January 6-7, 2020 with a delegation led by the Attorney General with representations from key state entities.”
Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi was in Paris, France all week during FATF’s January 16/21 plenary meeting. He spoke to FATF delegates on TT’s systematic reform.
The ministry stated FATF President, Xiangmin Liu, congratulated the AG and noted that TT has strengthened the effectiveness of its anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CML)regime.
The ministry stated that in January 2015 - under the then PP Government- TT was the first member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) to undergo FATF ‘s mutual evaluation (peer review) process. The ministry added TT “ failed miserably” in its assessment of regulatory laws and measures and the public wasn’t told by the then Government.
The Ministry said the current Government driven by its anti-crime Plan to take the profit out of crime, attempted to improve TT’s rating on the international front, led by Al-Rawi. The ministry piloted and implemented measures to ensure transparency in land, cash and business transactions to directly target rampant corruption, fraud and criminality in TT. This resulted in the enactment of 23 pieces of AML/CFT legislation followed by operationalization, which it said the Opposition didn’t support.