Financial Crime World

Turks and Caicos Islands Improves Financial Crime Risk Management Following CFATF Review

The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) has recently reviewed the Turks and Caicos Islands’ progress in combating money laundering and terrorist financing. The result is a significant improvement in two key areas, with the country’s rating upgraded from “partially compliant” to “largely compliant” for Recommendations 13 and 28.

A Comprehensive Review

Following a comprehensive mutual evaluation report adopted by the CFATF in 2020, the Turks and Caicos Islands embarked on an enhanced follow-up process. This involved reporting back to the CFATF on the steps taken to address technical compliance deficiencies identified in the assessment of its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) measures.

Improvements in Key Areas

The review has led to improvements in two key areas:

Correspondent Banking

  • The country’s rating was upgraded from “partially compliant” to “largely compliant” for Recommendation 13, which relates to correspondent banking.
  • This improvement demonstrates the Turks and Caicos Islands’ enhanced framework for managing correspondent banking relationships.

Regulation and Supervision of DNFBPs

  • The country’s rating was also upgraded from “partially compliant” to “largely compliant” for Recommendation 28, which pertains to the regulation and supervision of designated non-financial business professions (DNFBPs).
  • This improvement highlights the Turks and Caicos Islands’ strengthened framework for regulating and supervising DNFBPs.

Meeting FATF Requirements

The CFATF has also assessed whether the Turks and Caicos Islands’ measures meet the requirements of FATF Recommendations that have changed since its 2020 mutual evaluation. The review took into account any new measures implemented by the country since the assessment.

Significant Progress in Financial Crime Risk Management

As a result of these improvements, the Turks and Caicos Islands is now rated as compliant or largely compliant with 37 out of the 40 FATF Recommendations. This represents a significant step forward in the country’s efforts to tackle financial crime risk management.