Abstract
This statement provides an update on events that took place after the staff report was finalized. The additional information does not change the thrust of the staff appraisal.
This statement provides an update on events that took place after the staff report was finalized. The additional information does not change the thrust of the staff appraisal.
1. On February 24, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a statement on Jamaica's progress with the implementation of the Action Plan to improve the Anti Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism framework (AML/CFT). FATF recognized Jamaica' political commitment to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime, recognized progress to date, and urged continued efforts to address remaining strategic deficiencies.1
2. During the plenary, FATF upgraded two more action items to the category of largely addressed. These include: (i) issue necessary regulations for the monitoring and application of the risk-based supervision to the Non-Profit Organizations sector (Immediate Outcome (IO) 10.2); and (ii) approve legislative amendments to bring the microfinance sector under AML/CFT requirements and start implementation to ensure adequate risk-based supervision of the sector (IO 3.1). Against this recent development, 9 of the 13 action items are addressed/largely addressed.
3. The authorities have continued to make progress to include Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions under risk-based AML/CFT supervision. As stated in the staff report, the legal framework for company service providers is in place, and service providers have until end-April to apply for a license. Since the issuance of the staff report, Jamaica's Privy Council ruled that the AML/CFT regime should apply to the legal profession, thus rejecting the appeal by the latter against that application. This advances another action item in the plan (IO 3.2, see Box 1 in the staff report).
4. As informed in the staff report, proposed conditionality in the PLL will support the authorities' efforts to complete three action items in the plan agreed with FATF (IO 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4). The proposed structural benchmark aims to ensure that adequate beneficial ownership (BO) information will be available to competent authorities, which requires that the definition of BO be amended in line with the international standards endorsed by FATF, the Register of Companies is granted powers to ensure compliance, and sanctions are introduced for breaching BO reporting obligations.
Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring - 24 February 2023 (fatf-gafi.org)