Mr. Laurie Lawrence

Mr. Laurie Lawrence spoke before an Anti-Money Laundering Awareness/Combating Terrorist Financing Awareness Seminar hosted by the Nevis Financial Services Regulation and Supervision Department. He strongly emphasized the finance ministry's support for anti-terror measures.

"This matter we take seriously and as such, we will continue our efforts to improve both the legal and regulatory infrastructure. We will continue our efforts to meet international standards, to pursue international cooperation, to focus on education and training," he said.

In doing so, the NIA would be in concert with worldwide efforts to curb money laundering and terror-related financing. According to information posted on the World Bank's Web site, "Money laundering and the financing of terrorism are global problems that not only threaten security, but also compromise the stability, transparency, and efficiency of financial systems, thus undermining economic prosperity."

The global strategy employed the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) seeks the establishment of an international standard, spearheaded by the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF). Created in 1989, the FATF is an inter-governmental body that works to generate the necessary political will to bring about legislative and regulatory reforms in reference to money laundering and terror financing.

Many countries have joined in this effort. According to the Feb. 4 testimony before a US Senate committee by James Freis, director of the US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, his division plans to enhance information sharing with international and local law enforcement agencies on transactions potentially involved in money laundering.

"As we continue to focus on executing our strategy, we must increase global public awareness of the threat posed by foreign corruption so that our efforts to combat this threat become a priority for all nations," Freis said during his testimony.

Also, as recently reported in the Hindustan Times, India's Enforcement Directorate has pursued around 30 cases across the country in the last three months on charges of money laundering in what could be the biggest-ever exercise to track down terror funding. A number of bank accounts have been frozen and properties acquired with terror funds have been seized.

At the awareness seminar held at Pinney's, Mr. Lawrence stressed that the NIA would have to work hard to stay abreast of the changes taking place, both internationally and locally, in the fight against money laundering. He detailed the steps taken to conform to international standards.

"We have started that process with the passage of the following legislations: Money Services Business Act, 2008 which will govern the licensing and regulation of all money value business; The Insurance Act, 2009, which repeals the 1968 Act and includes the IAIS Principles for the regulation, licensing and monitoring of insurance entities [and] the Financial Services Regulatory Commission Bill, 2009. The purpose of this Bill is to establish a single regulatory unit to license and regulate providers of non-bank financial services in both St. Kitts and Nevis. These include Credit Unions, Development Banks, Real Estate Brokers, Money Management Services Business and Non Profit Companies," he said.

Further, according to Mr. Lawrence, in the near future the Cooperative Societies Bill to improve the regulation of the Credit Unions will be passed.

In the area of international financial transparency and cooperation, the Permanent Secretary noted that bilateral Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) have already been signed with New Zealand, Netherland Antilles, Aruba, Belgium, Denmark, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Norway and the United Kingdom. The NIA is hoping to sign agreements with Germany, France, Australia and the Nordic Countries this year.

According to guidelines provided by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the new international tax standard emanating from the April 2009 G-20 Summit, participating jurisdictions are required to sign at least 12 TIEAs.

"We also have to continue to improve knowledge and skills and strategic planning, we want to be on the cutting edge" said Mr. Lawrence. "We need to start to plan and move in a different mode so we could think ahead, plan ahead and try to predict the changes and what is happening in the environment and make adjustments accordingly.

"There is no doubt that our survival will depend on our ability to adapt to the new order. We have to improve infrastructure, use standards expected by global regulators and respond speedily to the needs of the market."