National Anti-Money Laundering Oversight Committee conducts internal training
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
by Attorney General’s Chambers
SESSIONS AIMED TO INCREASE COMMITTEE MEMBERS’ KNOWLEDGE OF UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS AND FATF RECOMMENDATION 6.

On Thursday, October 17th, 2024, the National Anti-Money Laundering Oversight Committee held an internal Anti-Terrorism Training and Sensitization exercise.

The primary objective of this session was to provide Committee members with a comprehensive understanding of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) regime and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 6, “Targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorism financing”. Recommendation 6 requires countries to implement efficient procedures for identifying and freezing assets linked to individuals and entities involved in terrorism and its financing, and to comply with the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions. The effectiveness of how well a country implements its legal and regulatory framework in practice in relation to the identification, freezing, and confiscation of terrorist assets, as well as the overall impact of these measures on mitigating terrorism financing risks is assessed under Immediate Outcome 10 “TF preventative measures and financial sanctions”.

This initiative is particularly relevant as Saint Lucia continues its preparations for its Fifth Round Mutual Evaluation by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF). The national regime for targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorism financing was identified as a significant area of weakness in Saint Lucia's Fourth Round Mutual Evaluation. As a result, Saint Lucia obtained a technical compliance rating of non-compliant for Recommendation 6 and a low effectiveness rating for Immediate Outcome 10.

In response to these findings, NAMLOC has committed to examining how the effectiveness of the national framework could be enhanced, with the goal of ensuring that Saint Lucia is prepared for the Fifth Round.

As part of the ongoing efforts to enhance compliance with the FATF Standards, Saint Lucia submitted its 2nd application for technical compliance re-ratings of seven FATF Recommendations during May 2024:

  • Recommendation 6- Targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorism financing
  • Recommendation 7- Targeted financial sanctions related to proliferation
  • Recommendation 15- New technologies
  • Recommendation 26- Regulation and supervision of financial institutions
  • Recommendation 28- Regulation and supervision of designated non-financial business and professions (DNFBPs)
  • Recommendation 33- Statistics
  • Recommendation 38- Mutual Legal Assistance: Freezing and Confiscation
  • The country achieved upgraded ratings for all of the Recommendations:
  • From Non-Compliant to Partially Compliant in Recommendations 6 and 7;
  • From Non-Compliant to Largely Compliant in Recommendation 26; and
  • From Partially Compliant to Largely Compliant in Recommendations 15, 28, 33 and 38.

These improved ratings follow Saint Lucia's last application in May 2023, which resulted in the upgrading of 20 out of 22 Recommendations.

The final report detailing these improvements is available on the CFATF website.

These efforts over the last three years underscore the Committee’s dedication to strengthening its anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and counter-proliferation financing framework.