Mutual Evaluation Report: Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI)

The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) conducted a Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) on the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) to assess its compliance with Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) recommendations.

Significant Progress in Addressing Deficiencies

The report highlights that TCI has made substantial progress in addressing deficiencies in its AML/CFT framework. Key areas of improvement include:

Enhanced Customer Due Diligence

• Criterion 10.16-10.20: The TCI authorities have amended their regulations to require financial institutions (FIs) to review customer due diligence (CDD) based on materiality and risks of accounts.
• Key Amendments:
  • FIs must consider when CDD measures were completed
  • FIs must assess the adequacy of data obtained from previous procedures

Strengthening Regulations for Money Transmission Businesses

• Recommendation 14: TCI was previously rated “Partially Compliant” but has since made amendments to address technical deficiencies related to money transmission businesses (MTBs) operating without a license.
• Key Amendments:
  • Expanded definition of money transmission
  • Provisions for regulating MTBs

Conclusion

The report suggests that the Turks and Caicos Islands are actively working to strengthen its AML/CFT framework and address identified deficiencies, demonstrating significant progress in addressing key areas.