Mutual Evaluation Report of Turks and Caicos Islands: Strengthening Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing Framework

Introduction

The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) has released a Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) on the Turks and Caicos Islands, assessing the country’s compliance with international anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) standards.

Key Findings

Customer Due Diligence (CDD)

• Criterion 10.16: The country has addressed a deficiency related to CDD by amending Regulation 11(c) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Prevention of Terrorism Financing Regulations.
• Criterion 10.17-10.19: There are no deficiencies cited in these criteria, indicating that financial institutions (FIs) in Turks and Caicos Islands are required to apply enhanced due diligence (EDD) measures for specific situations and to not simplify CDD procedures.

Combating Money Laundering/Terrorism Financing

• Criterion 10.20: Although the criterion was initially met, a deficiency was identified in the Summary of TC deficiencies table, which requires FIs not to pursue CDD where there is suspicion of money laundering/terrorism financing.

Improvement and Strengthening

The report highlights several key areas of improvement:

• Recommendation 14: The Money Transmitters Ordinance has been improved, empowering the Financial Services Commission to identify and investigate unlicensed money service businesses.
• Addressing Technical Deficiencies: Turks and Caicos Islands has addressed all technical deficiencies via amendments to the AML/CFT framework.

Conclusion

The Mutual Evaluation Report indicates that Turks and Caicos Islands has taken significant steps to strengthen its AML/CFT framework, addressing several deficiencies and improving compliance with international standards. As a result, the country is re-rated as “Compliant” with Recommendation 10.