The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

AN assessment of this nation’s anti-money laundering and terrorism financing defences is expected to take six to eight months, the Compliance Commission’s inspector yesterday saying it would assess the ‘real’ rather than perceived risk of such activities in the Bahamas.

Stephen Thompson described the assessment, which is being facilitated by the World Bank, as a “very important step” for this nation and the first such comprehensive assessment.

“This will allow the Bahamas to better coordinate and better understand the nature of these risks. The main objective is to help establish an effective system to fight against money laundering and terrorism financing activities,” said Mr Thompson.

“The Bahamas is embarking upon its first national anti-money laundering risk assessment, meaning that this will be the first time that, in a comprehensive manner, the Bahamas will seek to put methods in place to mitigate money laundering and terrorism financing risk in the country.

“The real, rather than perceived, risk will be looked at. We are seeking to determine those areas which are vulnerable to money laundering and terrorism financing in the Bahamas. We are also seeking to determine which areas are currently regulated and perhaps may need a greater focus. Conversely, there are some areas which may now be regulated that, on a risk sensitive basis, we may be able to take our resources and divert them to other areas,” added Mr Thompson.

“What we do is we look at money laundering typologies. These would be the means by which persons have laundered money in the past. In addition to that, we would focus on any other areas where there may be vulnerabilities, meaning any area that is susceptible to criminal activity.

“Obviously, cash-intensive businesses would be critical for us to look at. Once we would have determined the money laundering and terror financing risk, we will then determine how we go about putting mechanisms in place to strengthen what already exists or, should we identify areas to currently regulate, we will move in that direction.”

Mr Thompson said the Bahamas’ financial services legislation will be part of that review.

“We will take a look at all of the laws on the books, all policies and procedures, to determine their adequacy,” he said.