It emerged on Wednesday that the Cook Islands authorities are facing another hurdle in their bid to secure removal from the Financial Action Task Force's list of countries considered uncooperative in the fight against money laundering.
Speaking on Radio New Zealand International this week, the jurisdiction's commissioner for offshore banking, Mathilda Uhrle said that officials from the International Monetary Fund were due to review the Islands' anti-money laundering laws next month, and provide assistance in redrafting the legislation to the likely satisfaction of the FATF.
However, she revealed that the IMF had informed her on Wednesday morning that its visit will now be delayed until early next year, leaving the Cook Islands just two real options - wait until next year for help and remain on the blacklist, or go it alone.
Ms Uhrle told the New Zealand radio station that the authorities currently favour the latter option, explaining that:
'I think that the Cook Islands will have to re-think its game quite seriously, and look at offshore jurisdictions in the world that face the same kind of issues in terms of the FATF listing process and literally just proceed as best we can.'
A comprehensive report on the future of offshore following the various international initiatives, including the FATF's anti-money laundering drive is available in the Tax-News Reports Shop at http://www.tax-news.com/reportshop/
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