Money launderers put on warning

The cooperation between the two agencies would focus on general matters to counter drug trafficking, anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, - In an effort to sharpen the regional response to transnational organized crime, the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) and the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFTAF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) setting forth their plans to work together on the issue of financial crimes, including money laundering and the use of the proceeds from the trade in narcotics and arms that  fund gang and terrorism related activity.

“This MoU signifies a clear recognition by the Caribbean Community….of the danger that unchecked financial crime poses to our economic and political systems” said Lynne Anne Williams, the Executive Director of CARICOM IMPACS. 

"It is, indeed, a concrete step towards the urgent implementation of measures which are critical not only to CARICOM States, but to those of the wider Caribbean region.” 

The Executive Director of the CFATF, Calvin Wilson, said that “both IMPACS and CFATF play critical roles in promoting and maintaining peace and security in the Caribbean region.” 

The cooperation between the two agencies was approved by the Tenth Meeting of the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement in June last year and would focus on general matters to counter drug trafficking, anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism.  

IMPACS and CFATF would also be collaborating on a three-year accreditation programme for financial investigators and analysts in the CARICOM/CFATF Region which will enhance the regional capacity to take the profit out of crime through asset forfeiture. This programme was designed with the assistance of the United Kingdom Security Advisory Team at the British High Commission in Barbados.