Guyana Takes Steps to Combat Terrorism Financing

Strengthening Financial Intelligence

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in Guyana has been working diligently to identify and track terrorist financing (TF) through various mechanisms, including Short-Term Forensic Analysis (STRs) and checks against the United Nations (UN) Consolidated List. According to a recent report, the FIU’s system allows it to conduct daily checks of its database against UN designations to determine if there are any reports of persons providing assistance to sanctioned organizations and/or entities.

Effective Collaboration

The report highlights that there have been no alerts pertaining to designated persons or entities, and that the FIU has not sent any international requests for information related to TF between 2018 and April 2023. However, it received five requests from other Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) over the same period and responded promptly to all of them.

Interagency Cooperation

In addition to the FIU’s efforts, other agencies in Guyana are also playing a crucial role in combating TF and terrorist financing. The following agencies are working together to detect, investigate, and prosecute TF-related crimes:

• Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA)
• Customs Anti-Narcotics Agency (CANU)
• Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP)
• Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU)

SOCU’s Efforts

SOCU has investigated all TF matters referred to it by the FIU between 2018 and April 2023, but none of the investigations revealed any actual instances of TF. However, SOCU has implemented several measures to improve its ability to combat TF and other financial crimes, based on a risk-based action plan and input from the National Policy and Strategy.

Government Commitment

The Guyanese government is committed to combating terrorism financing and will continue to work closely with international partners and domestic agencies to prevent and detect TF-related activities.