Financial Crime World

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Antigua and Barbuda Receives Positive Assessment from Caribbean Financial Action Task Force

ST. JOHN’S, ANTIGUA - In a significant boost for the country’s financial reputation, Antigua and Barbuda has received one of the best reports from the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) in its 4th round evaluations.

Overview of the Report

The 2018 Mutual Evaluation Report, published by the CFATF, gives an overall positive assessment of the country’s efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Examiners praised Antigua and Barbuda for having a reasonable understanding of the risks posed by money laundering and terrorist financing, and noted that financial sector examiners are well-respected.

Key Findings

  • The report highlighted significant improvements made since 2007, when over thirty areas of weakness were identified.
  • Only eight areas require significant improvement in the current report, while 32 areas of the AML/CFT infrastructure have reached levels of ‘compliant’ or ’largely compliant’.

Areas for Improvement

While the report praised Antigua and Barbuda’s efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, it also identified several areas where improvement is needed:

  • Identification of vulnerable non-profit organizations
  • Lack of awareness among lawyers of their anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) obligations
  • Need for implementation of the recently enacted requirement for annual reports on beneficial ownership of entities

Recommendations from CFATF Examiners

To further improve its AML/CFT framework, the CFATF examiners recommended several actions, including:

  • Creation of a serious offenses court
  • Increased money laundering prosecutions
  • Stronger risk-based examinations of financial institutions
  • Measures to assist financial institutions and non-financial businesses and professions to better understand their ML/TF risks

Conclusion

The positive assessment from the CFATF is expected to boost Antigua and Barbuda’s reputation as a jurisdiction that takes seriously its commitment to combating money laundering and terrorist financing.