Bridgetown, Barbados, November 2018 - CFATF Chairman, the Honourable Basil Williams SC, MP, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs of Guyana chaired the CFATF XLVIII Plenary in Bridgetown, Barbados on 22-23 November 2018. The Working Group meetings took place from 19-21 November 2018.

The main issues dealt with by this Plenary were:

  1. Mutual Evaluations and Follow-Up Process and ICRG matters
  • Discussion of the mutual evaluation report (MER) of the Cayman Islands: The CFATF Plenary discussed the MER of the Cayman Islands which set out the level of effectiveness of the country’s AML/CFT system and their level of compliance with the FATF Recommendations. The report was prepared on the basis of the FATF Methodology for assessments which requires countries to consider the effectiveness with which AML/CFT measures are implemented, as well as technical compliance for each of the FATF Recommendations. Plenary approved the Mutual Evaluation report following discussions at both the CFATF Working Group on FATF Issues (WGFI) and at Plenary. The MER is now being prepared for the post-Plenary Quality and Consistency process and will be published once the process is concluded.
  • Discussion of the 1st enhanced follow-up report for the mutual evaluation of The Bahamas, in which the country achieved technical compliance re-ratings: The CFATF Plenary discussed the progress that The Bahamas has made since the adoption of its mutual evaluation report (MER) in 2017. The Bahamas has made progress since the publication of its MER. The CFATF Plenary agreed to re-rate the Bahamas’ technical compliance with a number of FATF Recommendations to reflect the country’s progress since its MER was adopted and its current level of technical compliance. After the completion of a quality and consistency review, the CFATF will publish the follow-up report which summarises the analysis of how deficiencies identified during the mutual evaluation were addressed and the final conclusion on the re-ratings.
  • Updates about the ongoing the mutual evaluation status of Haiti, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Bermuda, Venezuela and St. Lucia were provided.
  • Adoption of the CFATF ICRG Procedures for the Fourth Round of AML/CFT Mutual Evaluations, which will bolster and provide greater clarity to the existing Follow-Up Process.
  1. CFATF CFT Operation Plan
  • Trinidad and Tobago and Belize made presentations of their CFT work in line with the approved CFT Operation Plan adopted at the CFATF XLVII May 2018 Plenary.
  1. Updates of the FATF June and October 2018 Plenaries
  • Outcomes of the FATF June and October 2018 Plenaries were presented at the following CFATF Working Group Meetings: the International Cooperation Review Group (CFATF ICRG), the Working Group on FATF Issues (WGFI), which covers the work of the Policy Development Group (PDG), Global Network Coordination Group (GNCG) and Evaluations and Compliance Group (ECG), the CFATF Risk, Trends and Methods Working Group (CRTMG) and the Heads of FIU Forum meetings.
  • Some of the topics discussed were the amendments to Rec. 15 (New Technologies) which now includes a new paragraph in order to deal with Virtual Assets (the Glossary was also amended in order to include the definition of Virtual Assets and Virtual Assets Service Providers) and the future work that the FATF will undertake (which will include an Interpretative Note and amendments to the Methodology) and the changes to the Methodology regarding Rec. 2 and Immediate Outcomes 1, 3 and 4.
  1. CFATF Governance
  • The Honourable Dale Marshall, QC, MP, Attorney General of Barbados will hold the CFATF Chairmanship for the period November 2018 – November 2019, while Lt. Col. Edward Croft, Director of the Organisation of Drug and Money Laundering Control Policy of Antigua and Barbuda assumed the position of Deputy Chair of the CFATF. Honourable Basil Williams, QC, MP now holds the position of Immediate Past Chair, which ensures the tripartite governance of the CFATF.

CFATF Secretariat
December 7th, 2018