ComplianceAid
Monday, March 23, 2015
Last Wednesday, the United States published it’s 2015 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report which includes a list of Major Money Laundering Jurisdictions. Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic and Haiti find themselves on this list.
The United States defines a major money laundering country as a jurisdiction “whose financial institutions engage in currency transactions involving significant amounts of proceeds from international narcotics trafficking.”
“The upcoming Caribbean Anti-Money Laundering & Financial Crimes Business Owners and Board of Directors Conference will provide insight on this unfortunate development. Caribbean countries are making efforts to improve their AML regimes but much remains to be done” says Ms. Michelle Martin, President of ComplianceAid. The conference will take place in Miami on April 16-17 – For more information click here.
The United States point the finger at Antigua & Barbuda increasing drug trafficking activities, a vulnerable large financial sector as well as a vulnerable internet gaming industry. The U.S. urge Antigua & Barbuda to devote more resources to enforcement. “Participants to the conference will discover notwithstanding this report how Antigua is making significant progress and where it is heading in 2015-16” indicates Jean Morency co-organizer of the event.
Despite strict know-your-customer and transaction reporting requirements, the State Department says drug traffickers and other criminal organizations are taking advantage of The Bahamas offshore banking system to launder significant sums of money “Participants at the conference will learn how International Business Companies are laundering the proceeds of drug trafficking, firearms trafficking, illegal gambling and human smuggling by purchasing real estate, large vehicles, boats, and jewelry in the Bahamian Islands” highlight Ms. Martin.
According to the report Belize drive to grow offshore financial activities has exposed to illegal activities in it’s offshore banks, insurance companies, trust service providers, mutual fund companies, and international business companies. According to Jean Morency “the conference program include a discussion on Trade Base Money Laundering. We are noticing that increasingly Free Trade Zone are single out as laundering hot bed, this is the case with Belize in this latest US report.”
The State Department accuses the British Virgin Islands of being a gateway to the United States for drug traffickers. The Islands unique corporate share structure and the lack of mandatory filing of ownership information pose significant money laundering risks. The U.S. wants the BVI to make available the beneficial owners of offshore entities.
The U.S. is expecting the Cayman Islands to better supervise it’s non-profit sector which is at risk of being used to launder fraud and drug related acquired money.
Concerns over Haiti revolves around narcotics trafficking linked to the United States.
Michelle Martin insist that “transparency and corruption remain important issues for the Caribbean.” Specifically the U.S. says the Dominican Republic is exposed to corruption within the government and the private sector due to a strong presence of international illicit trafficking cartels and a large informal economy. The Dominican government is urged to better regulate casinos and non-bank businesses and professions, specifically real estate companies, and strengthen regulations for financial cooperatives and insurance companies.
