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AG makes link between corruption, poverty - The Chronicle Newspaper - 7th July, 2018
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Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney-General Basil Williams giving his remarks at the seminar in Bartica
–at anti-corruption seminar in Bartica
MINISTER of Legal Affairs and Attorney-General (AG) Basil Williams, has reiterated the government’s commitment to striking a blow against corruption in Guyana.
He made the remark during the sixth public anti-corruption sensitisation seminar that the Attorney-General’s Chambers and Ministry of Legal Affairs hosted at the Palm Springs Hotel Conference Room in Bartica on Friday.
These seminars sensitise and inform a wide cross-section of stakeholders of their roles and responsibilities in the fight against corruption in public office. This series of sensitisation seminars are an important aspect of the government’s policy to protect the state’s assets and forms part of a comprehensive response to the elimination of corruption in our society.
“Where there is corruption there is poverty. Government and state employees need to understand the importance of fighting against corruption. We are committed, prepared and ready to ensure that everyone is aware of their role, so we can together, as a country, combat corruption,” Mr. Williams said.
He also explained that this initiative was birthed some years ago, when the President of Guyana, His Excellency David Granger signed on with the United Nations on the Anti-Corruption Agreement. The President has since then delegated the responsibility to the AG to educate the people of Guyana in this regard.
HOW IT WORKS
The anti-corruption effort is guided by the State Asset Recovery Act. The purpose of this Act is to rid the society of corrupt and wrongful use of state property and to preserve state assets and assets of the people in Guyana.
The Act conforms to Guyana’s constitution and no law of the country is infringed. The State Asset Recovery Act steers the State Asset Recovery Agency (SARA), which is the agency responsible to recover state assets and properties obtained through unlawful conduct.
CEO of SARA, Mr Aubrey Heath-Retemyer explained that the agency’s aim is not to punish those involved, but to recover state assets that were taken unlawfully. He also shared that over the past years, Guyana has lost hundreds of billions of dollars to corruption. Particularly in the areas of Procurement Fraud, Illicit Capital Flight and Under Ground Economy, with moveable assets, fixed assets, land, money and gold being the targets of the corruption.
With the implementation of the State Asset Recovery Act, the country is expected to experience reduced corruption, increased transparency within government agencies and a momentous boost in the economy.
WHISTLEBLOWER ACT
Protection is granted to anyone coming forward with information about any misconduct in public office that will cause any loss of state assets, or revenue under the Protected Disclosures (Whistleblower) Act and the Witness Protection Act.
Regional Chairman of Region Seven, Mr. Gordon Bradford, expressed that this is a new, timely experience for the region, but indicated that they are thirsty for knowledge on how they can combat the issue of corruption. “Corruption is like a cancer that eats away on society. We need a corruption-free country and what we have learnt here today will be disseminated to everyone we meet to ensure that we fight this issue together as a region,” Mr. Bradford said.
The Anti-Corruption Act was also endorsed by Mayor of the town, Mr. Gifford Marshall and the Regional Executive Officer of Region Seven, Mr. Roderick Edinboro.
Presentations at the seminar covered the State Assets Recovery Act 2017, the Protected Disclosure (Whistle-blower) Act 2017, the Witness Protection Act 2017 and the Criminal Law Offences Act, Chapter 8:01. It was well attended and the attendees were given the opportunity to air their views and get clarity on the subject matters.
This sensitisation seminar was done in collaboration with the Regional Democratic Council of Region Seven, with the aim of restoring society and making life the way it ought to be.
Persons were encouraged to “blow the whistle,” so that corruption can be stamped out.
Joseph Haynes Law School Shareholders Agreement Signed - DPI 5th July, 2018
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Over the period of three (3) days, June 18-20, 2018 the Honourable Attorney General, Basil Williams, S.C, M.P and members of the local Joseph Haynes Law School (JHLS) committee met with representatives of the Jamaica joint venture partners. The representatives were Professor Dennis Gayle, Executive Chancellor of the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean, UCC; Dr. David Wan, Group Finance Director, UCC; Mr. Courtney Wynter, Chairman of the Board, Law College of the Americas (LCA); and Mrs. Marcelle Donaldson, Attorney-at-Law. The visit was specifically aimed to finalize and sign the shareholders’ Agreement for the JHLS.
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The JHLS created for this purpose met with the representatives on Monday, June 18, 2018 to hammer out the final details of the Agreement. The representatives continued to meet, with the Honourable Attorney General, who represented the Government of Guyana’s interest.
The team worked relentlessly to ensure that the result was an agreement acceptable by all parties. After careful consideration and collaboration, the agreement was signed and witnessed by representatives of the parties involved. The shareholders’ Agreement together with the Feasibility Study and Related Business Plan will be submitted to the Council of Legal Education (CLE).
Combating the threats …AG warns of high money-laundering risk - The Chronicle Newspaper - 5th July, 2018
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Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams (Samuel Maughn photo)
…urges coordinated efforts to tackle scourge
ATTORNEY General Basil Williams has warned that money-laundering risks here are high and called on all stakeholders to be proactive in countering these threats.
He said Guyana has an overall, high money-laundering risk and a medium terrorist financing threat which are realities from which the country must not shy away, but must address head-on. Williams was speaking at the time at a seminar on Guyana’s Money Laundering (ML) and Terrorist Financing (TF) Risk Assessment hosted at the Georgetown Club on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who is also performing duties of President, greets a participant at the seminar (DPI photo)
In attendance were Acting President Moses Nagamootoo, Business Minister Dominic Gaskin and Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan.
Others included: Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack; National Anti-Narcotics Agency Head, Michael Atherly; Governor of the Bank of Guyana (BoG), Gobind Ganga; Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Charles Fung-a-Fat; heads of the public and private sectors and other heads of supervisory bodies.
The gathering met as Guyana is currently working to meet certain criteria set out by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for its Fourth Round of Mutual Evaluation process set for 2022. The Fourth Round will test both the country’s technical compliance with regard to existing laws and regulations and its effectiveness on whether it is achieving the defined set of outcomes.
In efforts to comply with these guidelines, Guyana conducted a national risk assessment exercise between February 2016 to April 2017, resulting in the creation of a National Risk Assessment (NRA) report and a Risk-based Action Plan.
A working group of 74 persons from the public and private sectors worked towards understanding, identifying and assessing the ML and TF threats in Guyana and received technical support and guidance from the Inter-America Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank.
Members of the audience at the seminar on Guyana’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment hosted at the Georgetown Club (Samuel Maughn photo)
The NRA examines the level of risk within sectors, such as banking, mining, insurance securities as well as government organisations such as the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
Meanwhile, the Risk-based Action Plan outlines action to be taken, agencies or organisations responsible for such action and the timelines by which these actions should be addressed.
Williams, in his opening remarks, said that Guyana must remain focused and work strategically to mitigate its current high-risk rating. “The NRA determined that the overall risk of money laundering in Guyana is high. This outcome stems from the high rate assigned to the overall national threat and vulnerability which is rated medium-high…regarding terrorist financing, the threat is medium,” he reported, adding: “It is important for me to paint this realistic picture, so that we can know where we are and the amount of work that we have to do come 2022, when we will be assessed again.”
Williams said that the action plans serve as the base of the country’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering Financing of Terrorism (CFT) strategy, which will help to assist in mitigating existing threats and vulnerabilities.
In addition, the organisations featured in the Action Plan were allowed to provide feedback on the challenges faced in meeting the stipulated timelines which Williams says is useful information for the country.
“This process will help us to be more effective and efficient as we will know where we are and what else needs to be done…following up on the risk-based action plan allows us to bridge the gap between planning and implementation, which is critical. Guyana is scheduled to be assessed in 2022 and we cannot afford to be anything but proactive,” he said.
He added that the country must be able to demonstrate that, in addition to having a legal and institutional framework, its AML/CFT system, it is effective and be able to deliver on the recommendations of FATF.
As such, he called on all stakeholders, including Cabinet ministers, to throw in their efforts towards addressing high-risk areas and ensuring Guyana improves over time. He also stressed the need for effective sharing of information and for reporting entities and Designated Non- Financial Business and Profession (DNFBPs) to be effectively supervised to safeguard compliance with AML-CFT laws and regulations.
“I wish to remind all of us that money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing is a global problem that affects the stability and prosperity of every country. Therefore, let us be proactive and take the necessary steps to strengthen our AML/CFT regime,” he urged.
In November 2017, Guyana was the host of the 46th Caribbean FATF Plenary and Working Group Meeting with some 200 representatives from member countries and other international financial institutions meeting to discuss pressing issues.
When the government took office in May 2015, Guyana had been blacklisted both by CFATF and FATF; however, with leadership of President David Granger and Williams, the country made significant progress and now works towards becoming fully compliant.
New Deputy Chief Parliamentary Counsel appointed - The Chronicle Newspaper - 1st July, 2018
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Newly appointed Deputy Chief Parliamentary Counsel Joann Bond
THE Attorney General’s Chambers and Ministry of Legal Affairs have appointed Joann Bond, Deputy Chief Parliamentary Counsel. Bond will give added support to the Chief Parliamentary Counsel Charles Fung-a-Fat.
The Chambers made the announcement on Saturday, explaining that Bond’s promotion to Deputy Chief Parliamentary Counsel comes approximately eight years after she joined the Drafting Division in 2010.
In the past, she functioned as Parliamentary Counsel, Senior Parliamentary Counsel and Principal Parliamentary Counsel (ag).
In 2014, Ms. Bond was awarded the prestigious Chevening Scholarship to pursue studies in London, United Kingdom and is the holder of an LLM in Advanced Legislative Studies (with distinction) from the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS), University of London. She is also a graduate of the Hugh Wooding Law School where she obtained her Legal Education Certificate (LEC) in 2009, the University of Guyana where she received her Bachelors of Law Degree (LLB) (credit) in 2007 and Presidents College.
She is also proficient in the area of law revision having been trained by the Regional Law Revision Centre Inc. in Anguilla. Bond also completed an internship with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, Netherlands.
In addition to her main duties of drafting primary and subsidiary legislation of varying degrees of complexity, she also gives technical support to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation Financing Committee and the Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy.
Bond is a trained Caribbean Action Task Force (CFATF) Legal Assessor and is currently engaged in the Mutual Evaluation Process of the Turks and Caicos Islands. She is also the Chairperson of the Bid Protest Committee and a member of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel.
AG participates in FATF working group plenary - The Chronicle Newspaper - 29th June, 2018
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Attorney General Basil Williams attending the FATF plenary in France
ATTORNEY General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr. Basil Williams, S.C., M.P. is currently participating in the Plenary and Working Group meetings for the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-XXIX which is being held at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris, France from June 24-29, 2018.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body which was established in 1989. The FATF sets standards to counter money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing. The established standards are the FATF 40 Recommendations, which the FATF and FATF Style Regional Bodies (FSRBs) of which the CFATF the first one created in the Global Network; used to monitor their members level of compliance and implementation of measures against money laundering, counter terrorist financing and proliferation financing. The FATF’s decision making body is the Plenary, which meets three times per year (February, June and October).
In a release the AG chambers said the plenary reviews through discussions on mutual evaluation reports and other projects covering issues that are discussed in each of the technical Working Groups three days prior to the plenary (June 24-26, 2018).
The plenary meeting is intended to have all relevant parties present to discuss AML/CFT/PF issues so that progress is made in a consistent manner by FATF and FSRBs. The CFATF as an FSRB is therefore fully involved like other FSRBs in the work that is discussed during plenary. As the Chairman of CFATF, it is therefore important to remain visible and viable in the discussions that take place at the FATF Plenary level. There is an expectation that the issues, their outcomes and requisite follow-thorough in relevant instances will be carried forward by the Chair of each FSRB and their Secretariats.
The June 2018 plenary meeting is currently being held from Wednesday 27 to Friday 29, June 2018. Several topics will be covered that are of importance to the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) Region. These include:-the Counter Terrorist Financing Operational Plan; revisions to the Methodology and FinTech and RegTech issues.
