What's Happening

Representatives from several financial investigation and international asset recovery agencies in the Cayman Islands participated in a Domestic and International Asset Recovery Workshop on September 11-12, 2019. The workshop, which was attended by representatives from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Financial Reporting Authority, RCIPS Financial Crime Investigation Unit, Joint Intelligence Unit, and Joint Crime Task Force, served to improve the agencies’ knowledge and capabilities around investigating and recovering assets involved in financial crime cases, especially in instances where international cooperation is necessary.

The workshop was led by International Asset Recovery Advisor, Jill Thomas, who has previously worked with agencies such as Europol. It was organized as part of government’s efforts to bolster the country’s financial investigation capabilities, in response to recommendations made in the Cayman Islands’ Fourth Round of Mutual Evaluations Report.

For further information and photos, please see: https://www.rcips.ky/ci-financial-investigation-agencies-participate-in-asset-recovery-workshop

For further information please contact:

Risha Pragg-Jaggernauth

Tel: 1 868 623 9667 ext. 2206 Email: risha.pragg-jaggernauth@cfatf.org

 Brionne Antoine

Tel: 1 868 623 9667 ext. 2205 Email: Brionne.Antoine@cfatf.org

From January 2020, Bermuda will begin to accept digital currency as a form of payment for government taxes, fees and services. Premier David Burt made the announcement at the beginning of the Bermuda Tech Summit, saying the acceptance of the payments “will establish Bermuda as an example to other jurisdictions on how to adopt and benefit from the advancement of technology around digital currencies”. Once companies are licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, digital payments will be permitted, in the form of stable coins. A stablecoin is a form of cryptocurrency designed to offer price stability by linking it to a less volatile reserve asset or basket of assets, such as fiat currencies or exchange-traded precious metals. In Bermuda, the stablecoins will be pegged to the US dollar and derive their value from the fiat currency.

Bermuda has passed the Digital Asset Business Act for initial coin offerings. The country has also established a regulatory sandbox allowing digital asset companies to develop their services on a limited scale in order to give supervisory authorities the opportunity to study the best regulatory approach. The government of Bermuda’s believes that there are many start-ups interested in becoming licensed under the Bermuda Digital Asset Business Act and are ready to develop future financial services based on digital dollars.

The full article on Bermuda can be found here.

For further information please contact:

Risha Pragg-Jaggernauth

Tel: 1 868 623-9667 ext. 2206 Email: risha.pragg-jaggernauth@cfatf.org

 Brionne Antoine

Tel: 1 868 623-9667 ext. 2205 Email: Brionne.Antoine@cfatf.org

Trinidad and Tobago has been in the CFATF enhanced follow-up process since its Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) was adopted in 2015 and subsequently published in June 2016.  The MER assessed the effectiveness of Trinidad and Tobago’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) measures and the country’s compliance with the FATF Recommendations, as at the end of the onsite visit which occurred during the period January 12^th – 23^rd, 2015.  Since then, Trinidad and Tobago has reported back to the CFATF three times on its progress to strengthen its AML/CFT framework and address the technical compliance deficiencies identified.

The 3^rd Follow Up Report (FUR) examined whether Trinidad and Tobago’s measures met the requirements of FATF Recommendations including those Recommendations that have changed since their 2015 mutual evaluation and took into account the country’s new measures since the mutual evaluation.  As outlined in the FUR, Trinidad and Tobago acquired re-ratings with respect to eighteen (18) Recommendations.  Sixteen (16) re-ratings were obtained relative to Recommendations 1, 6, 8, 10, 16, 19, 22, 23, 24, 26, 29, 32, 33, 37, 39 and 40. Two re-ratings relative to Recommendations 7 and 21 were also granted based on revisions since the country’s mutual evaluation.  .

The primary laws which have been amended by Trinidad and Tobago to strengthen its AML/CFT legislative framework are as follows:

1. Proceeds of Crime Act and Regulations, Chapter 11:27
2. The Anti-Terrorism Act and Regulations, Chapter 12:07
3. The Financial Intelligence Unit of Trinidad and Tobago Act and Regulations, Chapter 72:01
4. The Non-Profit Organisations Act, 2019
5. The Companies (Amendment) Act (CAA)

Trinidad and Tobago’s 3^rd FUR noted the following changes to the AML/CFT framework of Trinidad and Tobago:

• Regulation 11(8) of the Financial Obligations Regulations made pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act, Chap 11:27 (POCA) was amended by the Financial Obligations (Amendment) Regulations, 2018 in order to address with the requirements of criterion 10.20
• The deficiencies identified in criteria 6.2, 6.5 and 6.6 were addressed through the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Act (ATAA), 2018.
• The Financial Obligations (Amendment) Regulations, 2018 amended Regulation 33 by inserting a new sub-regulation (7) to meet the requirement of criterion 16.10.
• Amendments to Section 17 of the FIUTT Act met the requirements of criteria 19.2 and 19.3.
• Amendments to the Companies Act addressed the deficiencies in Recommendation 24.
• Legislative amendments through Sections 51(2) and 54 of the Securities Act established strong fitness and propriety requirements for senior officers, directors and senior management of registrants which must be met prior to registration of entities.
• The FIUTT Act, as amended through section 8(3)(c)(ii) allows the FIU to collect information as required for tactical analysis in order to generate activity patterns, trends and typologies, investigative leads and identify possible future behaviour to address the requirements of Recommendation 29.
• Through the amendment of Section 5 (f) of the Miscellaneous Provisions (Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, Proceeds of Crime, Financial Intelligence Unit of Trinidad and Tobago, Customs and Exchange Control) Act, No. 2 of 2018, section (274 A) of the Customs Act was inserted in the Customs Act and subsection (4) was created to meet the requirements of Recommendation 32.
• Legal Notice No.1 (The Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (requests for Mutual Assistance) Regulations) was created to make provisions at regulation 2 for the prioritization and prompt execution of request by the Central Authority to meet the requirements of Recommendation 37.
• Sub-section 22(2)(k) by the Miscellaneous Provisions Act, No. 2 of 2018 was deleted regarding the refusal a request through the general discretion and under the tax laws to meet the criterion 37.3
• Section 57A (1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act (as amended by the Miscellaneous Provisions (Proceeds of Crime, Anti-Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Unit of Trinidad and Tobago) Act No. 20 of 2018) addresses Recommendation 2 by establishing the NAMLC and endowing it with specific functions, such as implementing the coordination of national AML, CFT and PF policies.
• The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Act, 2018 (No.13 of 2018) was amended to meet the requirements criterion 5.2
• Pursuant to Section 4 (1) of the Economic Sanctions Act, ‘DPRK Order’ by Legal Notice No. 184 dated December 14, 2018 and ‘Iran Order’ by Legal Notice No. 185 dated December 14, 2018 were enacted to meet the requirements of Recommendation 7.
• The Non-Profit Organisations Act, 2019 was assented on April 23rd, 2019 to address the deficiencies identified in for Recommendation 8.
• The revised requirement of Recommendation 18 with amendments in the Financial Obligations (Amendment) Regulations, No. 73 of 2019.
• To address Recommendation 21, Section 2(b) of the Miscellaneous Provisions (Proceeds of Crime, Anti-Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Unit of Trinidad and Tobago) Act, No. 20 of 2018 amended section 51 of the POCA to include a new subsection (1A). The revised requirements of the Recommendation were met by the Miscellaneous Provisions (Proceeds of Crime, Anti-Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Unit of Trinidad and Tobago) Act, No. 20 of 2018, section 51 (4) subsection (4A) and Legal Notice No. 73 of 2019 as it amends Regulation 7 of the Financial Obligations Regulations by inserting after sub regulation (4) the new sub regulation (4A).

Full details of the legislative updates made by Trinidad and Tobago’s can be found in its 3^rd FUR.

 For further information please contact:

 Risha Pragg-Jaggernauth

Tel: 1 868 623-9667 ext. 2206 Email: risha.pragg-jaggernauth@cfatf.org

 Brionne Antoine

Tel: 1 868 623-9667 ext. 2205 Email: Brionne.Antoine@cfatf.org

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published an updated consolidated table of assessment ratings that reflect the extent to which a country’s AML/CFT measures have been implemented and the effectiveness of these measures.  The assessment table includes ratings on all countries evaluated under the 2013 methodology. This table provides an up-to-date overview of the ratings that assessed countries obtained for effectiveness and  technical compliance (TC) and contains ratings for 81 jurisdictions. The table was updated on September 3rd, 2019 by the inclusion of the MER on Greece.  The CFATF jurisdictions that are included on this table are Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago.

The full consolidated table of assessment ratings can be viewed on the FATF's website.