Legal Mandate
Guyana’s fight against financial crimes has steadily advanced to align with international standards. The passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act, No.13 of 2009, along with subsequent amendments, marked a watershed moment in strengthening the country’s compliance framework. This legislation consolidated earlier efforts, expanded supervisory authority across key sectors, including gold and precious metals, and provided law enforcement with modern investigative and prosecutorial tools.
Key Provisions of the AML/CFT Act
The AML/CFT Act, and its amendment provide robust legal tools and procedures, including:
- Establishment and oversight of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
- Creation of the AML/CFT/CPF National Coordination Committee (NCC) for policy direction, coordination, and implementation.
- Criminalisation of money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing
- Powers for investigating and prosecuting money laundering (ML), terrorist financing (TF), and other serious offences.
- Mechanisms to identify, trace, freeze, seize, and forfeit the proceeds of crime.
- Legal provisions for both criminal and civil asset forfeiture.
- Regulatory oversight through preventive measures for Reporting Entities.
- Implementation of targeted financial sanctions to mitigate terrorism and proliferation financing risks.
Role of the Guyana Gold Board
As a designated Supervisory Authority under the AML/CFT Act, the Guyana Gold Board is responsible for overseeing compliance by Licensed Gold Dealers (Dealers in Precious Metals), who are recognised as Reporting Entities under the category of Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs). GGB’s role as the supervisory authority for Dealers in Precious Metals include:
- Monitoring the implementation of risk-based AML/CFT measures.
- Ensuring effective customer due diligence (CDD) procedures are applied.
- Overseeing transaction monitoring and the reporting of suspicious activities.
- Supporting continuous compliance and alignment with the national AML/CFT framework.
- Coordinating and cooperating with both national and international law enforcement agencies, competent authorities and other supervisory authorities.
