Financial Crime World

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International Cooperation Mechanisms Needed to Disrupt Potential Activities in Aruba

A recent report by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) highlights the importance of international cooperation mechanisms in disrupting potential activities related to money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing in Aruba.

Lack of Consistent Training for Law Enforcement Agencies

The report states that law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and prosecutors in Aruba have not received consistent training on terrorist financing investigations and prosecutions. This lack of training can hinder efforts to combat these crimes effectively.

Financial Investigations and Confiscation Regime

Financial investigations are a crucial part of the policy objective in Aruba, aimed at identifying, tracing, and confiscating proceeds of crime and property of corresponding value. While competent authorities have seized a wide range of assets, including gold, cash, real estate, and motor vehicles, minor weaknesses exist in the confiscation and provisional measures regime due to resource constraints and lack of consistent training.

Targeted Financial Sanctions Framework

Regarding targeted financial sanctions (TFS) - TF framework, the report states that while TFS-TF is implemented to a large extent, some weaknesses exist in the legislation regarding TFS-PF. The Council of Ministers of the Kingdom has not yet responded to the report’s findings.

International Cooperation and AML/CFT Framework

The CFATF report also highlights the importance of international cooperation in combating money laundering and terrorist financing. Aruba has implemented an anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) framework, which has shown to be effective in some instances.

Recommendations

  • Strengthen training for LEAs and prosecutors on terrorist financing investigations and prosecutions.
  • Implement a more robust confiscation and provisional measures regime.
  • Enhance transparency of legal persons and arrangements.
  • Strengthen implementation of TFS-TF and TFS-PF frameworks.
  • Improve NPO supervision and ML investigations and prosecution.

Conclusion

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The CFATF report highlights the importance of international cooperation mechanisms in disrupting potential activities related to money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing in Aruba. While progress has been made in strengthening the AML/CFT/PF regime, there is still much work to be done to ensure effective implementation and enforcement of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism measures. International cooperation is crucial in this regard.