– as Pres Ali meets & holds talks with visiting team
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government will be partnering with the Regional Security Systems (RSS), which is presently in Guyana and has met with President Dr Irfaan Ali to foster discussions to boost the country’s Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) capacity as quickly as possible.
President Ali received a visit on Friday from the leaders of the RSS team, who are here for its annual meeting. While hosting the delegation at State House, President Ali informed them of the importance of a regional approach to security when it comes to confronting conflicts and disasters.
The Head of State also highlighted to the RSS team, the importance of food and energy security, both of which Guyana has been prominent in promoting on the regional and international stages.
The Guyana delegation consisted of Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn, and National Security Advisor Captain Gerry Gouveia. Meanwhile, the visiting delegation was led by the Executive Director of the RSS and Chief of Staff of the Barbados Defence Force, Errington Ricardo Shurland.
The RSS delegation also included Heads of the Defence Forces and Police Forces from St Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia and Guyana (Chief of Staff, Brigadier Omar Khan, and Commissioner of Police (ag) Clifton Hicken).
The RSS was set up through an agreement within the Caribbean Community (Caricom) for the defence and security of the Eastern Caribbean region. Only last year, Guyana was asked to become a member of the steering group of one of the RSS’s operating arms.
Partnership
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Legal Affairs explained in a statement that they will be partnering with RSS to host a Financial Investigation and Asset Recovery Workshop in Guyana from October 9 to October 13.
According to the Ministry, the workshop will be focused on building the capacity to handle civil and criminal forfeiture of proceeds of and properties acquired through these crimes. Among the State agencies that will be participating are the Judiciary and Magistracy and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Additionally, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the Bank of Guyana, the Guyana Police Force, the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), among others.
“The workshop will focus on the following areas: Digital Evidence, Investigative Orders: Procedural Requirements and Appropriateness, Disclosure Orders: Procedural Considerations, Restraint Orders: Procedural Considerations, Cash seizure, Re-seizure and Detention, Investigative Orders: Application, Evidential Burden and Procedure and Civil Recovery: building a Civil Recovery Case,” the statement said.
It was further explained that the workshop will seek to strategically address some of the deficiencies that were identified in Guyana’s legal and Anti Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism/Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/PF) systems. The Ministry made it clear that the Governments want to address these deficiencies “swiftly”.
AML/CFT
The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) only recently completed its on-site visit and assessment of Guyana’s AML/CFT framework and has since applauded the steps Guyana has taken to fix the framework.
According to a statement from the Legal Affairs Ministry, the CFATF team completed its on-site visit and assessment of Guyana’s compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations and Methodology last month.
During this visit, they interviewed and examined a number of Government Ministries, law enforcement agencies, State agencies, financial institutions, as well as private sector and professional organisations.
The Ministry explained that following the assessment, the CFATF team found that Guyana, as a jurisdiction, had made satisfactory progress and was praised during the exercise. According to the Ministry, the CFATF team lead, Avelon Perry, and her team presented a summary of their initial findings to the Attorney General and the AML/CFT National Coordination Committee.
