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Updated: Oct 27, 2023 05:01 PM
Cayman Islands was one of four countries released from the Financial Action Task Force grey list on Friday (File photograph)
The Cayman Islands has been removed from the global Financial Action Task Force’s money laundering grey list.
Following a three day meeting in Paris of the FATF Plenary, the group’s decision making body, an issued statement Friday included a note on jurisdictions no longer under increased monitoring.
It said: “The FATF plenary congratulated Albania, the Cayman Islands, Jordan and Panama for their significant progress in addressing the strategic AML/CFT deficiencies previously identified during their mutual evaluations.
“These jurisdictions had committed to implement an action plan to resolve swiftly the identified strategic deficiencies within agreed time frames. These countries will no longer be subject to the FATF’s increased monitoring process.
“This comes after a successful on-site visit to each of these countries.
“Each country will work with the FATF-style regional body of which it is a member (the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force), to continue strengthening their AML/CFT/CPF regimes.”
AML/CFT/CPF is the initialism for anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism/countering proliferation financing.
It is a set of measures that financial institutions and other regulated entities must follow to prevent and detect money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.
The much anticipated decision comes as the FATF seems bent on an even stricter measure of supervision.
It was known this summer that pending a sight visit, Cayman had satisfied the FATF requirements, that they were to be removed from the list of monitored countries with deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism regimes.
In anticipation of the formal statement, the international financial services firm, Ocorian, just days ago published its view: “In the journey to compliance, the Cayman Islands has invested significant resources since 2019 when it became aware of the impending grey listing.
“These efforts included establishing a dedicated bureau within the police service to lead complex cross-border money-laundering inquiries, implementing stringent rules and oversight for high-risk industries such as real estate and precious metal dealers, among other reforms.”
Ocorian is a provider of trust, administration and fiduciary services for companies, institutions, individuals and funds.
However, it added: “The Cayman Islands must continue to enhance and refine its anti-money laundering, counter terrorism financing and counter proliferation financing regimes.
“The fifth round of mutual evaluations by the FATF, scheduled for 2025, is expected to place a stronger emphasis on how well the jurisdiction enforces its laws and regulations.
“Global standards are continually evolving, and the Cayman Islands remain under scrutiny due to the substantial size of its financial sector.”
Cayman Finance, the financial services industry association representing 80 member firms and 15 professional associations, welcomed “the FATF’s recognition of the Cayman Islands’ anti-money laundering regime as compliant and effective”.
In a statement, the organisation said: “Standard setters such as the FATF and the European Union have meticulously reviewed Cayman’s regulatory capacity and practices and confirmed they meet global standards for transparency, anti-money laundering, and tax good governance at least on par with, if not better, than most major economies.
“To maintain this status, a lot of work has gone into further strengthening Cayman’s financial services legislation and the implementation of new regulations.”
“Cayman’s consistent adherence to global standards is a testament to the strong collaborative relationship between the Cayman Islands government and the financial services industry.”
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