Attorney General Hon. Rhondalee Braithwaite Knowles OBE, led a team of persons representing the Turks and Caicos Islands to the 47th Plenary and Working group meetings of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.  Delegates represented the Attorney General’s Chambers, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Intelligence Agency, the Financial Crimes Unit and the National Crime Intelligence Bureau (both branches of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force).  The Hon. Attorney General holds the position of Immediate Past Chair of the regional compliance body on behalf of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The CFATF is chaired by the Hon. Basil Williams, Attorney General and Minister for Legal Affairs for Guyana.

The CFATF is the regional offshoot of the Paris based, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the premier inter-governmental organization that sets the standards for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.  The CFATF plays a critical role in promoting regional compliance with the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations on anti-money laundering and combatting the financing of terrorism and weapons proliferation. 

The CFATF comprises 25 countries from South and Central America and the Caribbean, with a total population of approximately 80 million persons. The CFATF is responsible for monitoring and evaluating member states in an effort to achieve compliance. 

Meetings around the Plenary include a meeting of Heads of FIUs, Working Groups and other CFATF Committees dealing with governance issues such as budget, planning and human resources.  Angela Brooks, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions is co-chair of the CFATF’s Human Resources Committee along with Mrs. Kenisha Bacchus from the Financial Services Commission. Mrs. Bacchus was also an assessor for the mutual evaluation of Antigua and Barbuda and performed admirably in that role at the meetings.  Insp. Dwayne Baker, Director of the Financial Intelligence Agency is an assessor for the upcoming Evaluation of Bermuda.

Accompanying Hon. Braithwaite Knowles at the CFATF plenary were Khalila Astwood-Tatem, Desiree Downes and Shayone Handfield-Gardiner from the Attorney General’s Chambers, Edith Cox, Dwayne Baker and William Lightbourne from the Financial Intelligence Agency, Jillian Williams and Shatelia Hall from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Kenville Charles and Paulin Nemours from the Financial Crimes Unit of the RTCIPF, Vernon Williams from the National Crime Intelligence Bureau of the RTCIPF and Kenisha Bacchus and Tamiko Smith from the Financial Services Commission.

The effectiveness of the legislative and regulatory infrastructure of the Turks and Caicos Islands’ financial services sector is being evaluated by the CFATF and the CFATF will be conducting an onsite visit to the Turks and Caicos Islands to meet with public sector and private sector stakeholders in the financial sector during the second and third week in September 2018.

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The Turks and Caicos has released its first Money Laundering and Terrorist Financings National Risk Assessment in line with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations against which each country assesses its own money laundering and terrorist financing risks.

The TCI National Risk Assessment aims at creating a comprehensive and evidence-based understanding of the money laundering and terrorist financing risks faced by the jurisdiction.  The initial phase commenced in October 2014, with a workshop which identified the approach to gathering supporting data.

Around fifty stakeholders and representatives from both the public and private sectors will convened for a three-day workshop with a closed half day workshop for policy makers in June 2017.  That workshop facilitated the making of a comprehensive action plan to allow for a consistent approach to decrease the levels of risks, and strengthen controls and supervisory oversight in each sector. The Cabinet approved the National Risk Assessment Report in August 2017.  The National Risk Assessment is a tool used by private and public sector stakeholders to understand he national risks to the financial sector and implement effective measures to combat those risks.

Announcing the release of the National Risk Assessment, chair of the national Anti-Money Laundering Committee, the Attorney General Hon. Rhondalee Braithwaite Knowles OBE said: “This is a major initiative here in the Turks and Caicos Islands which will enable us to develop an effective framework to prevent money laundering and combat terrorist financing.”

The Hon. Attorney General also extended special thanks and acknowledgement is given to World Bank experts Ms Lisa Bostwick, Mr Roberto Biel, Mrs Emily Adeleke, Ms Francisca Fernando and Mrs. Kathleen Peters who have led the various workshop sessions.

For more information on the National Risk Assessment, please contact the TCI Attorney General Chambers at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or the Compliance Unit at the Turks and Caicos Financial Services Commission at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The report will be available on the Government website www.gov.tc along with the websites of the Attorney General’s Chambers www.gov.tc/agc and the Financial Services Commission www.tcifsc.tc

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Notes to Editor:

1. The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 currently comprising 36 members, with the participation of over 180 countries through a global network of FATF- style regional bodies. The objectives of the FATF are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating ML, TF and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.

2. Please refer to The FATF Recommendations 2012 and the FATF Guidance: National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment here: FATF Recommendations.

The Turks and Caicos Islands has undertaken Pre-Assessment Training in preparation for its Mutual Evaluation Assessment by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) in line with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) procedures that requires each country’s money laundering and terrorist financing risks to be assessed.  The mutual evaluations process is the mechanism used to conduct assessments. The Pre-Assessment Training is a requirement in the mutual evaluation process.

The assessment of the effectiveness of the legislative and regulatory infrastructure of the Turks and Caicos Islands’ financial sector has started by the delivery of a Technical Compliance Questionnaire which was received July 20, 2017 and to which the TCI responded on October 17, 2017.  Another desk-based assessment whereby the TCI will have to provide to CFTAF Secretariat responses on the effectiveness of the anti-money laundering and combating of terrorism framework (AML/CFT) will have to be submitted.  This will be followed by a two-week On-site evaluation by a CFATF assessment team early next year which will be followed by the publication of the Mutual Evaluation Report.

Around fifty stakeholders and representatives from both the public and private sectors convened for a three-day workshop at the Sands Resort in Providenciales on 18-20^th of October 2017.  The workshop facilitated provision of comprehensive information needed for the country to prepare for all the stages of the assessment process.

The training was divided into two sections with the first two days being geared towards the public sector and the last day for the private sector.

Announcing the completion of the Pre-Assessment Training, Chair of the lead agency, the Anti-money laundering Committee (AMLC), Attorney General Hon. Rhondalee Braithwaite Knowles OBE said: “National cooperation and coordination are the keys to a successful outcome.  This is major step in the preparation process here in the Turks and Caicos Islands which provides stakeholders with the necessary understanding of the Mutual Evaluation process, particularly the On-site visit.  It will assist the country in being prepared to receive the Assessment Team and create awareness of the demands of the process.”

The Hon. Attorney  General also expressed special thanks to CFATF Deputy Executive Director Mr. Carlos Acosta and Legal Advisor Mr. Rommel St. Hill who led the training sessions. The TCI is also very grateful to the Government of Canada that facilitated the CFATF’s attendance and conduct of this training.

For more information on the Mutual Evaluation Assessment process, please contact the TCI Attorney General’s Chamber.

Notes to Editor:

1. The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 currently comprising 36 members, with the participation of over 180 countries through a global network of FATF- style regional bodies. The objectives of the FATF are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating ML, TF and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
2. The CFATF is the regional offshoot of the FATF, the premier inter-governmental organization that sets the standards for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.  The CFATF plays a critical role in promoting regional compliance with the FATF Recommendations on anti-money laundering and combatting the financing of terrorism.  CFATF is responsible for monitoring and evaluating member states in an effort to achieve compliance.  
3. The TCI’s last Mutual Evaluation Assessment was conducted in 2007 with the Mutual Evaluation Report being finalized for publication in 2008.
4. The AMLC is established under the Proceeds of Crime Ordinance and comprises the Attorney General as Chair, and includes the Commissioner of Police, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Head of the Financial Services Commissioner and the Head of the Financial Intelligence Agency as members. 

 Please refer to The FATF Recommendations