MISC PROVISIONS FATIF BILL

CCNTV6

The miscellaneous provisions 'Fatif" bill before the senate once passed will see T&T move from partially to largely compliant with anti-terrorist financing frameworks. One opposition senator cautions against placing too much power in the hands of the FIU while an independent senator highlights the unregulated gambling industry.

Transcript

00:00Amendments to various pieces of legislation will facilitate the removal of Trinidad and

00:05Tobago from the EU's list of high-risk third-country jurisdictions deficient in anti-money laundering

00:13and counter-terrorist financing.

00:15I want to make it clear that this bill is of utmost importance in terms of Trinidad

00:21and Tobago's compliance with the standards established by the European Union and the

00:26European Financial Action Task Force.

00:30With the passage of this bill, Trinidad and Tobago aims to achieve at the very least a

00:36largely compliant rating in FATF recommendation 35 during its fifth round mutual evaluation.

00:45Opposition Senator Jayanti Lachmanial says the opposition is willing to support good

00:50law which will improve the country's international standing.

00:54However, she warns the country's image can be harmed if the additional power placed in

00:59the Financial Intelligence Unit is abused, as had been done in the not-so-distant past.

01:05A High Court judge ruled last year that the Financial Intelligence Unit of Trinidad and

01:10Tobago abused its power and acted unconstitutionally when it attempted to access the private banking

01:16information, a former police commissioner Gary Griffith and his wife, Nicole Dyer Griffith,

01:22from several banks.

01:23But the FIU became implicated in this, and that certainly does not bode well for Trinidad

01:30and Tobago as a country going into the fifth round mutual evaluation.

01:33It should have never happened, and I dare say that it, you know, truly is something

01:39that I hope this government pays attention to and ensures it doesn't happen in the future.

01:44But what we are seeing now is that they are broadening the scope of power for the FIU

01:49to go into specific businesses and request information.

01:52Independent Senator Dr. Paul Richards, meanwhile, expressed concern about the unregulated gambling

01:57industry and the implication it can have on compliance.

02:01You can walk into several establishments across the east-west corridor and in central and

02:06south Trinidad and see numbers on boards with figurines and symbols that we all know what

02:16they're about.

02:18We cannot bury our heads in the sand about it.

02:21Which we know is illegal gambling.

02:24Which we know in this country is substitute for play-wee and wee-wee.

02:29Which we know is money laundering.

02:31Which we know could be facilitated money laundering.

02:33The finance minister says the gambling, gaming and betting bill will be proclaimed in the

02:38next month or early next year.

02:41Aurovishi Tomori, Rupnirai, TV6 News.

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