The Chairman of the Caribbean Financial Task Force (CFATF), Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs of Guyana, Honourable Basil Williams, S.C., M.P. led the CFATF delegation at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Plenary Meeting and Working Groups, held at OECD Headquarters in Paris, France, from February 18-23, 2018. CFATF participants included the CFATF Secretariat, Bermuda, Haiti, Jamaica, Venezuela, and Aruba and Curacao (under the Kingdom of the Netherlands).


The main issues addressed by this Plenary were:

  • Combatting terrorist financing, including the adoption of a new counter-terrorist financing operational plan and a statement on the actions taken under the 2016 counterterrorist financing strategy. FATF Style Regional Bodies (FSRBs) were tasked with developing their own counter TF Operational Plans.
  • Amendments to Recommendation 2 on national cooperation and coordination.
  • Haiti was removed from the 3rd Round FATF ICRG pool.
  • Barbados was placed in the 4th Round FATF ICRG pool based on the results of the Mutual Evaluation Report.
  • Trinidad and Tobago’s progress was discussed by the ICRG. They remain in status quo and will report at the FATF’s June 2018 Plenary.
  • Two public documents identifying jurisdictions that may pose a risk to the international financial system:
    • Jurisdictions with strategic anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) deficiencies for which a call for action applies.
    • Jurisdictions with strategic AML/CFT deficiencies for which they have developed an action plan with the FATF.
  • Adoption of a report to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors.
  • Updated FATF Guidance on Counter Proliferation Financing.
  • Follow-up reports for the Mutual Evaluations of Spain and Norway where both countries sought technical compliance re-ratings.
  • Revisions on information sharing to the FATF Methodology.
  • Update on recent developments on de-risking.
  • Improving the understanding of virtual currencies risks.
  • Update on FinTech & RegTech Initiatives.
  • Discussion of the Mutual Evaluation Report of Iceland. Brazil’s progress in addressing the deficiencies identified in its mutual evaluation report since it agreed an action plan in November 2017.
  • Improving the effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System: FATF global engagement with judges and prosecutors.