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FATF Statement On The Bahamas Criticised

by Amanda Banks, for LawAndTax-News.com, London

14 July 2004

Speaking earlier this week, Dr Gilbert NMO Morris, executive director of the Bahamian Landfall Centre for Finance, Trade and International Affairs slammed the FATF for suggesting that the jurisdiction is unable to cooperate internationally to an acceptable standard with regard to money laundering matters.

In its recently published Annual Review of Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories, the Financial Action Task Force praised the anti-money laundering programmes put in place by the Central Bank and the Financial Intelligence Unit, but went on to announce that:

"While the Bahamas has shown significant progress in many areas, the FATF will continue to monitor the Bahamas as concerns persist concerning the Bahamas' ability to fully cooperate internationally."

Strongly condemning this suggestion on Monday, Dr Morris argued that:

"One cannot even wonder at...what the FATF proposes to mean by its statement, unless it proposes to have direct regulatory responsibility for The Bahamas and like jurisdictions. There are jurisdictions which are members of its supervenient body the OECD that the FATF cannot seem to bring into its meandering ambit, yet no matter the concession, it makes what appears to thinking persons as careless statements regarding jurisdications which have ill-advisedly, but nonetheless assaulted their constitutional constraints to comply with its anti-commercial and anti-competitive view of the world."

He added: "One can only repeat that these 'goal post moving' statements will continue to come. And jurisdictions - particularly ones festooned with overseas banks - will face increasing risks if the FATF continues to 'blind-side' their efforts to comply with its 'regulatory nebula' by making comments which cast a cloud over particular jurisdictions."

The Landfall Centre executive director went on to suggest that offshore centres should stand up for each other in the face of such statements by multilateral organisations.

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