An In-depth Look at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Forty Recommendations- Recommendation 2- National Cooperation and Coordination

Part Four:

By: The Attorney General’s Chambers
and the National Anti-Money Laundering Oversight Committee (NAMLOC)

The mandate of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to control the scourge of money laundering, terrorist financing and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is one of great importance to us in the Caribbean. Caribbean States are members of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) – a regional-styled body bounded by the Forty Recommendations. Full compliance by member States requires a clear understanding of the Recommendations. This article will examine Recommendation 2: ‘National Cooperation and Coordination’.

Recommendation 2 calls for countries to have national anti-money laundering/countering financing of terrorism policies. These policies should be informed by the risks identified when the country conducts its risk assessment as required by Recommendation 1, and should be reviewed regularly.  It is also recommended that there be a designated authority overseeing the implementation of the policies, or have coordination or other mechanism that are exclusively responsible for these policies.

Saint Lucia should ensure that policy makers, enforcement authorities, the Financial Intelligence Authority, supervisors and all other relevant competent authorities coordinate with each other from a policy and operational level to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and financing of the weapons of mass destruction. Additionally, these institutions should have mechanisms in place which are effective enough to allow them to cooperate which each other regarding the development and implementation of policies and activities to nullify these three problem areas.

This Recommendation calls for a collaborative approach between the stakeholders in the private and public sectors and demonstrates the gains that can be made when working together. In September 2019 Saint Lucia will have its on-site visit by the assessors from the CFATF, who will be on island interviewing stakeholders. In addition to the other thirty-nine Recommendations an examination will be done of how effectively Recommendation 2 has been implemented and a rating will be assigned. One of five ratings can be received: Compliant, Largely Compliant, Partially Compliant, Non-Compliant or Not-Applicable. It is the primary objective of the National Anti-Money Laundering Oversight Committee (NAMLOC) to prepare for this assessment.

Every Saint Lucian is encouraged to learn more about combating money laundering, terrorist financing and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and corporate with agencies in this fight.