Turks and Caicos attends CFATF Plenary in Trinidad and Tobago in prepartion for its mutual evaluation

#PortofSpain, June 4, 2018 – Trinidad and Tobago – Attorney General Hon. Rhondalee Braithwaite Knowles OBE, led a team of persons representing the Turks and Caicos Islands to the 47^th Plenary and Working group meetings of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.  Delegates represented the Attorney General’s Chambers, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Intelligence Agency, the Financial Crimes Unit and the National Crime Intelligence Bureau (both branches of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force).  The Hon. Attorney General holds the position of Immediate Past Chair of the regional compliance body on behalf of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The CFATF is chaired by the Hon. Basil Williams, Attorney General and Minister for Legal Affairs for Guyana.

The CFATF is the regional offshoot of the Paris based, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the premier inter-governmental organization that sets the standards for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.  The CFATF plays a critical role in promoting regional compliance with the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations on anti-money laundering and combatting the financing of terrorism and weapons proliferation.

The CFATF comprises 25 countries from South and Central America and the Caribbean, with a total population of approximately 80 million persons. The CFATF is responsible for monitoring and evaluating member states in an effort to achieve compliance.

Meetings around the Plenary include a meeting of Heads of FIUs, Working Groups and other CFATF Committees dealing with governance issues such as budget, planning and human resources.  Angela Brooks, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions is co-chair of the CFATF’s Human Resources Committee along with Mrs. Kenisha Bacchus from the Financial Services Commission.  Mrs. Bacchus was also an assessor for the mutual evaluation of Antigua and Barbuda and performed admirably in that role at the meetings.  Insp. Dwayne Baker, Director of the Financial Intelligence Agency is an assessor for the upcoming Evaluation of Bermuda.

Accompanying Hon. Braithwaite Knowles at the CFATF plenary were Khalila Astwood-Tatem, Desiree Downes and Shayone Handfield-Gardiner from the Attorney General’s Chambers, Edith Cox, Dwayne Baker and William Lightbourne from the Financial Intelligence Agency, Jillian Williams and Shatelia Hall from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Kenville Charles and Paulin Nemours from the Financial Crimes Unit of the RTCIPF, Vernon Williams from the National Crime Intelligence Bureau of the RTCIPF and Kenisha Bacchus and Tamiko Smith from the Financial Services Commission.

The effectiveness of the legislative and regulatory infrastructure of the Turks and Caicos Islands’ financial services sector is being evaluated by the CFATF and the CFATF will be conducting an onsite visit to the Turks and Caicos Islands to meet with public sector and private sector stakeholders in the financial sector during the second and third week in September 2018.

Release: TCIG