Guyana’s President says Caribbean unfairly forced to combat money laundering
Guyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo claimed that the US and other large nations are unfairly forcing Caribbean countries to fight money laundering, while these countries themselves are failing to enforce similar regulations at home.
When speaking before the Caribbean Association of Indigenous Banks on November 12, President Jagdeo urged regional officials to criticize the double-standards that are imposed against Caribbean countries as their offshore banking industries have been considered money-laundering hotspots because of their banking secrecy laws for a long time.
Jagdeo also said that Caribbean countries must not place “undue burdens” on their economies in order just to satisfy requirements which the countries recommending them do not satisfy themselves.
It should be noted that Jagdeo and other regional leaders have long claimed thate large-scale money laundering takes place in such large economies as the US and the UK, however, only small nations face the threat of sanctions for the illegal practice.
Daniel Glaser, US deputy assistant treasury secretary for financial crimes, said not only the US, but the UN, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, and countries across the world recognise that anti-money laundering measures are key to maintaining global security.
According to Caribbean leaders, local offshore banking regulations have been tightened since the FATF put 5 new jurisdictions on a tax-haven blacklist in 2000. These were the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis, and Dominica.