Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Policies in the Virgin Islands

Overview

The Virgin Islands has established various statutory bodies to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and predicate offenses. These entities aim to advise the Financial Services Commission on initiatives for preventing and detecting money laundering and terrorist financing.

Purpose of AML/CFT Regime

• To prevent and detect money laundering and terrorist financing
• To promote public awareness of AML/CFT issues
• To foster cooperation between key public bodies

Threats to the AML/CFT Regime

Several primary threats have been identified in the Virgin Islands:

Criminal Threats

• Ability to avoid extradition, retain proceeds of crime, launder money, finance terrorism, breach sanctions, and exploit vulnerabilities in the Money Service Business (MSB) sector.
• Exploitation of weaknesses in the AML/CFT regime by organized crime groups.

Law Enforcement Agency (LEA) Failures

• Failure to pursue investigations, conduct timely ML investigations, pursue prosecution for ML offenses, confiscate assets, and detect security breaches.
• Corruption within LEAs that could cause illegal activities to be overlooked or investigations to be frustrated or circumvented.

Supervisory and Enforcement Frameworks

• Inadequate supervisory and enforcement frameworks for Financial Institutions (FIs) and Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions (DNFBPs), leading to abuse of these systems by criminals.
• Lack of effective measures to prevent, detect, and report suspicious transactions.

Current Position

The document concludes that continued vigilance and improvement in the AML/CFT regime are necessary to address the identified threats and maintain the reputation of the Virgin Islands as a responsible financial jurisdiction.