The FATF Plenary today reached agreement that Barbados has successfully completed its Action Plan, and qualifies for an On-Site visit early next year. This is the final step in the country’s quest to be removed from the Financial Action Task Force list of Jurisdictions Under Enhanced Monitoring.
Barbados’ removal from that list signifies that the country has made substantial progress in strengthening the effectiveness of its regime to combat Money Laundering, Financing of Terrorism and financing of Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Barbados was represented at the Plenary by Attorney General Dale Marshall and Cheryl Greenidge, Director, Bank Supervision Department of the Central Bank of Barbados.
Mr. Marshall said “This has been quite a journey since our Action Plan was adopted in 2020. A trigger in this entire process was financial sector assets reaching the amount of 5 billion US dollars. We have always been uncomfortable with this criterion, since it does not take into account such things as risks, and that casts doubt about its suitability in determining a country’s impact on the global financial system.”
In explaining the need for the on-site visit, the Attorney General said, “Barbados, since the adoption of the Action Plan, has put a large and varied body of measures in place to address the recommendations from its 4th Round Mutual Evaluation Report. Some of these measures were statutory and others had to do with improving our regulatory and law enforcement frameworks. We have addressed all of the areas in the Action Plan, and the FATF now needs to be satisfied that the measures are in fact tangible and sustainable. Every country that is in this process has to go through an on-site visit.”
The presence of Barbados on the FATF Enhanced Monitoring List triggered Barbados being placed on the European Union AML Blacklist, and both have had a deleterious effect on doing business in, and from Barbados. Such is the case whether it is Barbadians or foreign investors, largely because of the negative impact on correspondent banking relationships.
Correspondent banks are in simple terms the intermediary banks which facilitate the transfer of money into and out of Barbados. In the face of severe penalties levied elsewhere, these banks are often overly cautious of jurisdictions that are on the EU Blacklist.
Having had an on-site visit approved, Barbados is one step away from being delisted and this will then confirm to correspondent banks, existing and prospective investors, that we remain a safe and reputable jurisdiction to continue to do business, both at a domestic level and at an international level.
During the on-site visit, scheduled for early 2024, the FATF assessors will engage with all of the regulatory agencies, law enforcement, the judiciary, government officials and the private sector to confirm the effectiveness and sustainability of the measures that have been implemented.
The assessors will then submit a formal report to the FATF at its February 2024 Plenary meeting, at which Barbados will receive confirmation of whether it will be delisted.
Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs