AG hails Barbados’ removal from money laundering list

Barbados has been removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) ‘Grey List’. The decision was made during the organisation’s first plenary session of the year, a development that Attorney General Dale Marshall hailed as a major achievement for the country’s adherence to anti-money laundering standards.

Barbados’ successful implementation of its Action Plan led to a consensus among FATF members regarding its removal from the list, said Marshall. 

This “important development should quell many of the concerns of our financial institutions, businesses, professionals and citizens, who can now look forward to an ease in doing business locally and internationally,” said the AG.

He praised the dedication and commitment of the national Anti-Money Laundering Network, which includes the Central Bank of Barbados, and the International Business Unit for their “dedication and commitment” to the country’s success over the past four years. Also on the network are the Financial Services Commission, the Compliance Unit, the Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office, the Financial Intelligence, the Financial Crimes Investigations Unit of the Barbados Police Service, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Office of the Attorney General.

He highlighted the renewed confidence among investors due to Barbados’ strengthened Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regime, making the country a safe place to invest. Marshall noted that this achievement also positions Barbados for removal from the European Union Blacklist and the United Kingdom Blacklist, which previously identified the country as lacking adequate systems to combat money laundering.

“As far as the UK and the EU were concerned, we did not have adequate systems to fight money laundering and represented a significant risk to their respective financial markets.”

The attorney general added: “Having Barbados on those two blacklists, therefore, created significant difficulties for investors and businesses which rely on correspondent banking relationships to effectively do business, I now expect that we will immediately be removed by the UK, and that removal from the EU Blacklist will follow shortly thereafter.”

Barbados anticipates positive outcomes from its delisting and pledges to sustain efforts to ensure an effective AML regime consistent with FATF standards, Marshall declared. 

(EJ/BGIS)