Fourth Round Mutual Evaluation Report of St. Kitts and Nevis

The CFATF Plenary held virtually in December 2021 adopted the Mutual Evaluation Report of St. Kitts and Nevis. This evaluation summarises the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) / Counter-Terrorist Financing (CFT) measures in place in St. Kitts and Nevis as at the date of the on-site visit March 15^th – 26^th, 2020. The report analyses the level of compliance with the FATF 40 Recommendations, the level of effectiveness of St. Kitts and Nevis’ AML/CFT system and provides recommendations on how the system could be strengthened.

Click here for complete report

CFATF LIII PLENARY OUTCOMES DECEMBER 2021 VIRTUAL PLENARY & WORKING GROUPS MEETING

Photo: Chairman of the CFATF, the Honourable Ryan Pinder, pictured in the third row, photo 5 from the left,
and participants at the LIII Plenary and Working Groups meetings held in virtually during the period November 18^th to December 3^rd, 2021.

Photo: Participants at the CFATF LIII Plenary and Working Groups meetings held virtually during the period November 18^th to December 3^rd, 2021.

Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, (Virtually) December 2021 – Outgoing CFATF Chairman, the Honourable Ryan Pinder, Attorney General of The Bahamas chaired the CFATF LIII Plenary and Working Groups meetings held virtually during period November 18^th - December 3^rd, 2021. The Honourable Ryan Pinder presided and passed the baton to the Honourable Cheryl-Ann Lister, Acting Financial Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Bermuda, who will hold the position of CFATF Chairman for the period December 2021 to December 2022. The Deputy Chairmanship was passed to the Cayman Islands represented by the Honourable Samuel Bulgin, Attorney General of the Cayman Islands.

The main issues dealt with by this Plenary were:

1. Mutual Evaluations

Discussion of the Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) of St. Kitts and Nevis: The CFATF LIII Plenary discussed the MER of St. Kitts and Nevis which was prepared on the basis of the FATF 4^th Round Methodology, and which set out the level of effectiveness of the country’s AML/CFT system and their level of compliance with the FATF Recommendations. Plenary approved the MER following discussions at both the CFATF Working Group on FATF Issues (WGFI) meeting and at Plenary. The completion of the post-Plenary Quality and Consistency (Q&C) process is pending.

2. CFATF International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG) Matters (November 24^th and 26^th, 2021)

Discussion of the Follow-up Reports (FURs) for the mutual evaluations of:

The Bahamas 4^th FUR for re-ratings.
The Republic of Haiti 2^nd FUR for information only
Jamaica 4^th FUR for information only
Barbados 3^rd FUR for information only
Turks and Caicos Islands 2^nd FUR for information only
Lucia 1^st FUR for information only

3. Other Working Group Meetings held virtually:

CFATF Working Group on FATF Issues (WGFI) (November 22nd to 23rd, 2021)
CFATF Heads of FIU Forum (November 24^th, 2021)
CFATF Risk Trends and Methods Group (CRTMG) (November 24^th, 2021)

4. Other Updates Received

The Supervision Project, extended for an additional period of three years (June 2021 – May 2024), continues to provide support to Members, with an additional element of providing desk-based assistance to the CFATF’s Mutual Evaluation (MEVAL) Programme.
The 11th EDF funded two Mutual Evaluations between January and October 2021. The first was the hybrid Mutual Evaluation Mission for St Kitts and Nevis which took place from March 15th to 25th, 2021 and the second was the hybrid Mutual Evaluation Mission for Grenada which occurred from June 14th to 25th June 2021. One virtual Pre-Assessment Training for Suriname was conducted from June 28th to 30th 2021 (237 persons trained).
The 11th EDF Project was granted a 14-month ‘No-Cost’ extension to the program’s implementation period.

5. CFATF Governance

For the period December 2021 to December 2022 the Chairmanship of the CFATF is held by Bermuda represented by Cheryl-Ann Lister, Acting Financial Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Bermuda. The Deputy Chairmanship is now held by the Cayman Islands represented by the Honourable Samuel Bulgin, Attorney General of the Cayman Islands. The position of Immediate Past Chair is held by The Bahamas, represented bythe Honourable Ryan Pinder, Attorney General of The Bahamas which ensures the tripartite governance of the CFATF.

CFATF Secretariat
January 20, 2021

Press Release: Update on the Delisting of the Bahamas From the European Union List of Third-country Jurisdictions which have Strategic Deficiencies in their Anti-Money Laundering/ Counter Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) Regimes

On the 22nd of December 2021 a meeting of the European Commission College of Commissioners was held, and the revision of the List of Third-country Jurisdictions In its assessment, the Commission concluded that “The Bahamas has addressed the strategic deficiencies previously identified by the Commission in its AML/CFT regime. Read complete press release here

The Bahamas’ progress in strengthening measures to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing.

Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, December 20, 2021 – Since the assessment of The Bahamas' measures against money laundering and terrorist financing, the country has taken significant actions to strengthen its AML/CFT/CFP framework.

The Bahamas has been under enhanced monitoring since the adoption of its Mutual Evaluation Report. In line with the CFATF Procedures for the Fourth Round of Mutual AML/CFT Evaluations, the country has reported back to the CFATF on the actions it has taken since its mutual evaluation and its 3^rd Enhanced Follow-up Report. Consequently, to reflect the progress of The Bahamas, the CFATF has re-rated the country in relation to Recommendations 6, 7, 24 and 33 from Partially Compliant to Largely Compliant and Recommendations 19, 22, 26, 27 and 28 from Partially Compliant to Compliant.

Today, The Bahamas is Compliant with 18 Recommendations and Largely Compliant on 20 of them – combined they represent 38 out of the 40 FATF Recommendations.

Click here to access the report.

VULNERABILITIES IN THE CONCEALMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP INFORMATION
(Survey of Beneficial Ownership in CFATF Jurisdictions)

Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, December 10, 2021 – The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force Risk Trends and Methods Group (CRTMG) undertook a project to facilitate knowledge and experience sharing among the CFATF members on the very important topic of Beneficial Ownership (BO) risk mitigation. The information ascertained from participating jurisdictions indicate that countries have various measures in place to prevent the misuse of legal persons and arrangements for money laundering or terrorist financing. Some specific practices noted which may be useful for members include: supplementing ongoing BO reporting with periodic filings; establishing discrepancy reporting; designating Trust and Company Service Providers as regulated entities and requiring them to maintain BO registers for legal persons and arrangements; and establishing a central BO register. The report has highlighted the need for insightful risk assessments. Failure to understand the risks of the sector (Legal persons and Legal arrangements) severely hinder the effective implementation of risk-based policies and procedures to mitigate the money laundering and terrorist financing risks these corporate vehicles may exploit.

Access the report by clicking HERE ;