(CNS): The Cayman Islands is preparing to host the 55th Plenary and Working Group Meetings of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) this weekend, during which Attorney General Sam Bulgin will assume the chair on behalf of Cayman, taking over from Bermuda. Over 200 overseas delegates will be attending the five-day event alongside 130 local people representing a cross-section of relevant authorities. Cayman currently remains on the FATF grey list over one issue, which the jurisdiction has until February next year to deal with.

The meeting will include the fourth round of mutual evaluation reports and follow-ups for jurisdictions that have been assessed as a means of monitoring progress. It will be the first in-person CFATF plenary since November 2019, as lockdown and travel restrictions measures were imposed in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting coincides with the 30th anniversary of the CFATF as the first FATF-Style Regional Body (FSRB) to be established.

According to a press release, the various working group meetings will take place from Sunday to Tuesday, with the main plenary meeting scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, 29-30 November.

The CFATF is one of two FSRBs in the Western Hemisphere, with a membership of 24 jurisdictions. Its purpose includes implementing and monitoring measures to address money laundering (ML), terrorism financing (TF) and proliferation financing (PF) with respect to weapons of mass destruction, in line with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).  

Bulgin said this will be the third time that Cayman will be assuming the chairmanship of the CFATF. “The Cayman Islands Government is well aware of the importance of financial services to its economy and the need to proactively engage in the global fight against money launderers and those who finance terrorism and proliferation,” he said.

Cayman has been an active member of the CFATF since its inception in November 1992, the release stated. The jurisdiction actively enforced legislation to counter the Proliferation and Financing of Weapons of Mass Destruction in 2010, before the issue was incorporated into FATF Recommendations in 2012 or the FATF Methodology in 2013. The Cayman Islands has undergone four rounds of CFATF Mutual Evaluations in 2000, 2002, 2007 and 2019.

Officials said hosting the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force Plenary Meeting aligns with the Government of the Cayman Islands’ mission to enhance and solidify the territory’s reputation as a pre-eminent jurisdiction for financial services.