Dominica Fails to Meet International Standards on Bank Secrecy and Financial Crime

Introduction

A recent report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has found that Dominica, a small island nation in the Caribbean, has failed to meet international standards on bank secrecy and financial crime. The report evaluated Dominica’s compliance with FATF Recommendations and identified several areas of concern.

Areas of Concern

According to the report, Dominica is non-compliant with recommendations related to:

• Targeted Financial Sanctions:
  • Related to terrorism and terrorist financing (R.6)
  • Proliferation (R.7)
• New Technologies (R.15)
• Transparency and Beneficial Ownership of Legal Persons (R.24)

Progress Made

The report noted that Dominica has made progress in some areas, including:

• National Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism (R.2): Implemented
• Regulation and Supervision of Financial Institutions (R.26): Regulated and supervised
• Customer Due Diligence (R.10), Record Keeping (R.11), and Reporting of Suspicious Transactions (R.20): Compliant in some aspects

Recommendations

The FATF has recommended that Dominica take several steps to address its deficiencies, including:

• Strengthening national cooperation and coordination mechanism
• Improving regulation and supervision of financial institutions
• Enhancing customer due diligence and record keeping requirements
• Increasing transparency and beneficial ownership requirements for legal persons
• Implementing effective targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing

Conclusion

By addressing these deficiencies, Dominica can improve its compliance with international standards on bank secrecy and financial crime, reducing the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing in the country.