The Hon. Attorney General Rhondalee Braithwaite Knowles OBE QC welcomed the return of Principal Crown Counsel, International Mrs. Khalila Astwood Tatem to the Office of the Attorney General on Monday, 1st July 2019 following completion of her Master of Laws degree in International Maritime Law at the IMO International Maritime Law Institute.

The IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) held its 30th annual Graduation Ceremony on Saturday 15 June 2019 at the Malta Maritime Museum, Vittoriosa. The Ceremony marked the successful completion of an intensive year of studies in all the areas of international maritime law- including the law of the sea, shipping law, marine environmental law, maritime safety and security law and maritime legislation drafting, and a number of workshops and seminars.

During the Graduation Ceremony, Fourty-eight students (from 36 countries) in total graduated from the Institute’s programmes. Thirty-nine students were awarded the Degree of Master of Laws (LL.M.) in International Maritime Law, one student was awarded the Diploma in International Maritime Law and seven students were awarded the Degree of Master of Humanities (M.Hum.) in International Maritime Legislation. One student was awarded the Degree of Magister Juris (M.Jur.) in International Maritime Law in absentia.

Mrs. Tatem commented; “I am proud to be the first Turks and Caicos Islander to have attended the IMO International Maritime Law Institute. A primary goal of IMLI is to provide professionals with training in all aspects of maritime law and to equip them to assist their countries to better implement the IMO instruments. Although the program was very intensive, it was also very rewarding and provided numerous networking opportunities. I am grateful to all who supported, encouraged and in any way assisted me.”

Mrs. Tatem was successful at obtaining a scholarship from the IMO and received funding support from the Deputy Governor’s Office through the Professional Development Fund.

The Hon. Attorney General was delighted to see the ongoing development of Turks and Caicos Islander Attorneys and applauded Mrs. Tatem for having pursued her interest in an area of the law for which there is so little expertise in the Islands and congratulated her for having represented the Turks and Caicos Islands so well and graduating with distinction.

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The Turks and Caicos Islands has released its updated National Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorist Financing and Proliferation Financing Strategy 2021-2023 (“National Strategy 2021-2023“) setting out the main objectives which will be undertaken by the Government in collaboration with other stakeholders in order to improve the TCI’s AML/CFT/CPT regime and ensure that it continues to align with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations.

The National Strategy 2021-2023 builds upon the National Strategy 2018 taking into account threats and risks identified in the 2017 National Risk Assessment, the deficiencies noted in the MER and the Anit-Money Laundering Committee's Strategic Plan 2020-2023. The National Strategy 2021-2023 sets out goals which embodies the actions necessary to achieve the Anti-Money Laundering Committee’s strategic priorities. The actions within each goal are assigned to specific agencies to develop and implement with a lead agency being identified in each case.  

The National AML/CFT Strategy is a two-year framework document for use by private and public sector stakeholders to implement effective measures to combat risks to the financial sector.

Announcing the release of the National Strategy 2021-2023, chair of the national Anti-Money Laundering Committee, Attorney General, Hon. Rhondalee Braithwaite Knowles OBE QC said: “The ultimate goal of the Anti-Money Laundering Committee in producing this updated National Strategy is to supplement the Anti-Money Laundering Committee's strategic plan and provide a guide to the stakeholders as they implement the actions required to advance the Turks and Caicos Islands as a secure and well-regulated international financial center which is effective in mitigating against money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing. Through these goals and supporting actions the Anti-Money Laundering Committee will ensure that the measures, systems and processes to combat Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Proliferation Financing are robust and effective and that the legislative and regulatory infrastructure of the Turks and Caicos Islands’ financial services sector is fully implemented..”

For more information on the National Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorist Financing and Proliferation Strategy 2021-2023, please contact the TCI Attorney General Chambers at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The Strategy will be available on the websites of the Attorney General’s Chambers www.gov.tc/agc as well as that of the Financial Services Commission www.tcifsc.tc and the Financial Intelligence Agency www.fia.tc.

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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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