According to a report from The Bahamas Journal, the Bahamas has become the 54th member of the Egmont Group and Attorney General and Minister of Justice Carl Bethel hopes that this could spell the end of the country's 'nightmare' caused by its inclusion on the FATF blacklist.
The Egmont Group provides a forum for Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) as a support to their national anti-money laundering programmes. According to the group, this support includes 'expanding and systematising the exchange of financial intelligence, improving expertise and capabilities of the personnel of such organisations, and fostering better communication among FIUs through the application of new technologies.'
During a recent budget debate in the Bahamas, Minister Bethel announced that the Egmont Group had recently certified the Island's FIU as operational. He claimed that although this does not guarantee the Bahamas' removal from the blacklist, it is certainly a step in the right direction. He said: 'If it is possible to paint the Bahamas not merely as a tax haven but as a haven for money launderers and financial criminals then it is possible to demonize us and to exert maximum pressure and threats of taking measures to protect themselves from the effects of doing business with the Bahamas.'
He added: 'The world has changed and we must change with it. In the past the government could safely require other countries to pay for their own lawyers to perform these matters. The world now expects and demands that we provide services of legal assistance as a matter of state, at no cost to the requesting state.'
According to The Bahamas Journal, Minister Bethel commented that the Bahamas was blacklisted by the FATF mainly because of its reluctance to co-operate with international investigations. He said the government has since introduced all the reforms necessary to enable the Bahamas to fully comply with the FATF's conditions.
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