Financial Crime World

St. Kitts and Nevis Boosts Anti-Money Laundering Efforts, Earns Improved Rating

Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago - Recent Developments

St. Kitts and Nevis has made significant strides in its fight against money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF), according to the country’s 2nd Enhanced Follow-Up Report and Technical Compliance Re-Rating.

CFATF Report Highlights Progress

The report, released by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), evaluated the effectiveness of St. Kitts and Nevis’ anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures and its compliance with the FATF Recommendations. Following the adoption of its Mutual Evaluation Report, St. Kitts and Nevis underwent an enhanced follow-up process to strengthen its AML/CT framework.

Key Areas of Progress

The CFATF report highlights several key areas where St. Kitts and Nevis has made progress in addressing technical compliance deficiencies identified in the 2022 Mutual Evaluation Report:

  • National Cooperation and Coordination: Improved cooperation between national authorities, law enforcement agencies, and financial institutions.
  • Targeted Financial Sanctions: Effective targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing.
  • Customer Due Diligence: Enhanced customer due diligence practices, including identity verification and monitoring of transactions.
  • Transparency and Beneficial Ownership: Improved transparency and beneficial ownership of legal arrangements.
  • Regulation and Supervision of Financial Institutions: Strengthened regulation and supervision of financial institutions.

Re-Rating

As a result of these improvements, St. Kitts and Nevis has been re-rated as Largely Compliant with five out of the 40 FATF Recommendations:

  1. Recommendation 2: National cooperation and coordination
  2. Recommendation 6: Targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism & terrorist financing
  3. Recommendation 10: Customer due diligence
  4. Recommendation 25: Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal arrangements
  5. Recommendation 26: Regulation and supervision of financial institutions

Current Rating

St. Kitts and Nevis is currently rated as Compliant or Largely Compliant with 31 out of the 40 FATF Recommendations. The country’s progress in strengthening its AML/CT framework demonstrates its commitment to combating ML and TF and ensuring the integrity of its financial system.

By achieving this improved rating, St. Kitts and Nevis has demonstrated its commitment to upholding international standards against money laundering and terrorist financing, enhancing its reputation as a responsible financial jurisdiction.