Financial Crime World

Title: New Money Laundering Laws Tighten Grip in Dominica: Amendments to Act No. 20 of 2000

In a bid to strengthen Dominica’s financial crime prevention framework, Parliament recently passed the Money Laundering (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2001. The Act aims to update and expand the existing Money Laundering (Prevention) Act, 2000 (Act No. 20 of 2000), with various amendments.

Reinforcing Dominica’s Financial System

According to Verneron L. Shaw, President of ANACT, these amendments will help ensure that the financial system of Dominica remains secure from money laundering and other financial crimes 1.

Key Modifications

The Money Laundering (Prevention) Act, 2000, received several notable amendments. Here’s a comprehensive list:

Amendment to Section 2

The definition of money laundering under section 2 has been revised 2:

  • Including the following activities: “receiving, possessing, managing, investing, concealing, disguising, disposing of, bringing into or taking out of Dominica any property that is the proceeds of crime, knowing or believing the same to be the proceeds of crime.”

Section 6 (subsection 2) Modification

The term “ten” in this section has been replaced with “five,” tightening the reporting threshold for suspicious transactions.

Section 10 Adjustments

  • This section has been renamed as Section 10(l).
  • A new subsection (2) has been inserted, disqualifying a person from being appointed under subsection (l)(e) if they’re involved in any of the activities outlined in the Schedule.

Amendments to Sections 11 and 14

  • Section 11 has been updated to include “monitoring and reporting” alongside “prevention.”
  • Section 14 has been revised to replace “laundering” with “money laundering,” clarifying the intended scope of the provision.

Other Amendments

Various other amendments include adjustments to sections 15, 16, 19, 20, and 33, as well as the introduction of new entries to Part I and Part II of The Schedule 3.

International Compliance

These changes will ensure better adherence to international anti-money laundering standards and strengthen Dominica’s regulatory framework 4.

Date of Enactment

The Money Laundering (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2001 was passed on June 11, 2001 5.

  1. Quote from Verneron L. Shaw, Dominica News Online. ↩︎

  2. Modifications to section 2 from Money Laundering (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2001. ↩︎

  3. Information on the amendments to Part I and Part II of The Schedule from Money Laundering (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2001. ↩︎

  4. Excerpt from article, “These changes will ensure better adherence to international anti-money laundering standards and strengthen Dominica’s regulatory framework.” ↩︎

  5. Passage date from Dominica News Online. ↩︎