AG: Barbados could soon be off FATF grey list

Attorney General Dale Marshall has dismissed the idea that the Caribbean having a seat at the table where international tax rules are made for the global business and financial services sector would make any material difference in regional jurisdictions being unfairly labelled.

He offered that opinion as he also disclosed that Barbados was close to being removed from the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and, thereafter, the European Union’s blacklist.

His comments follow statements by Professor Don Marshall, University Director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus earlier this week, that “we need to have settled, once and for all, the inclusion of officials or representatives from the Caribbean that participate in international financial services provision so that we can be part of the methodology that determines the classificatory schemes that countries fall under”.

Asked to share his view on that suggestion, the Attorney General told the one-day regional Anti-Money Laundering and Cybercrime conference at the Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management on Friday, that Barbados and the rest of the region were represented by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).

He argued that even if Barbados had a seat at the table, “it would have meant absolutely nothing because the European Union will still be able to say, ‘you have met that standard, but I want you to reach [our] standard’”.

Even with the CFATF “trying to represent” the region, he said, “the truth is, our voices are so small”.

He said he agreed that it was unfair that Barbados and other small regional jurisdictions were being accused of posing a threat to the global financial systems while bigger countries with more international trade were not being penalised.

The Attorney General reiterated that being placed on the European Union’s blacklist and the grey list of the FATF was negatively impacting some Barbados-based businesses’ ability to conduct business in some jurisdictions, and preventing some Barbados diplomatic offices from opening bank accounts in some jurisdictions.

However, he said the country was one step closer to getting off the FATF grey list, which should then trigger the removal of the jurisdiction from the EU’s blacklist.

“We have had to make a lot of changes. We are, in fact, almost at the final point. It took a lot of work but in January 2024 we will be making that final step, thanks to the hard work of the same FATF,” reported Marshall.

He said the face-to-face review follows Barbados making legislative changes and submitting several reports to satisfy some criteria.

The FATF team is expected to meet with the Attorney General, the Prime Minister, judges, financial sector representatives and global business representatives and necessary government departments.

“When we satisfy them, as we know we will, then we will get off the FATF grey list and then we anticipate getting off the EU blacklist. That is pretty much the state of play. We are almost there,” assured Marshall. 

(MM)