STEP was invited to attend the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Private Sector Consultative Forum in Vienna on 23-24 April.
The event consisted of several breakout sessions relating to FATF’s global priorities for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Terrorist Financing (CTF) in 2018.
As part of the Forum, Cecil Ferguson TEP, Chair of STEP Bahamas and Bank Examiner of the Central Bank of the Bahamas, which is responsible for licensing, regulating and supervising financial institutions, was invited to report to attendees on the progress of the National Risk Assessment (NRA) in the Bahamas.
Cecil reported that the NRA process in the Bahamas had been very collaborative in nature, with participation from the public, private and NGO sectors. The country had embarked on a course to implement FATF’s Recommendation 1, with all sectors identifying key risk areas and resources allocated to the highly-exposed areas. A national co-ordinator was appointed to take responsibility for the process.
There were two elements to the money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessment at the country level, as well as at the financial institution and Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFP) level. The Bahamas engaged with the World Bank’s technical risk-assessment expert to assist in the initial process.
The process served to enhance and deepen the understanding of the Bahamas’ money laundering and terrorist financing threats and vulnerabilities, and focus its resources to address gaps in its AML/CFT regime. This included amending primary laws, regulations and guidelines as well as supervisory enforcement and frameworks.
Cecil concluded that the Bahamas’ NRA was adopted by the Cabinet in December 2017 and it has established a working group meeting weekly to ensure that the outcomes continue to be addressed.
STEP representatives also attended a closed session drafting group for lawyers, accountants and trust and corporate service providers (TCSPs) to discuss FATF’s Risk-Based Approach guidance. The review included discussions around the sectoral guidance of 2008 and potential areas of improvement focusing on beneficial ownership, suspicious transaction reporting obligations, terrorist financing risk indicators, and ongoing customer due diligence measures.
STEP will continue to engage on these issues with FATF and report back accordingly.
The STEP Blog 