Cayman updates FATF on last remaining AML issue

A Cayman Islands delegation has updated a Financial Action Task Force (FATF) review group on local money-laundering investigations and prosecutions, to demonstrate the jurisdiction’s capability and capacity for fighting financial crimes.

Led by the Attorney General, Samuel Bulgin, KC, and the Minister of Financial Services and Commerce, André Ebanks, the delegation presented, during a meeting on Thursday in Miami, with the Americas Joint Group, a sub-working group of the FATF’s International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG).

The update addressed the FATF’s final recommended action for the Cayman Islands, namely to demonstrate its ability to investigate and prosecute complex anti-money laundering-related offences.

The meeting was part of the process to remove Cayman from the list of jurisdictions monitored by the global AML standard setter for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism deficiencies.

In March 2019, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force, which supports the FATF’s work in the region, recommended 63 actions for the Cayman Islands to complete, to further strengthen its regime.

By February 2021, Cayman had completed 60 of these actions; however, the FATF placed Cayman on its monitoring list and agreed an action plan to complete the remaining three items.

Of these three, CIMA satisfied the recommended action regarding effective sanctions in June 2021. The Ministry of Financial Services and Commerce satisfied the second recommended action, in relation to beneficial ownership, in October 2022.

Through the ICRG, the Joint Group will report its findings from the review process to the FATF, for decision during the FATF plenary this February. At the end of the plenary, the FATF will make a public statement on the status of jurisdictions on its monitoring list – whether the jurisdiction is to remain, or to be removed.

If the jurisdiction is to be removed, it normally happens at the following plenary, which in this case will be June 2023.

The attorney general oversees the Cayman Islands’ AML/CFT regime, and the chief officer in the Ministry of Financial Services and Commerce is the AML Steering Group’s deputy chair.