Supervisory Authority
What is a Supervisory Authority?
According to Section 2 of the AML/CFT Act 2009, a Supervisory Authority (SA) is defined as the authority listed in Column 2 of the Fourth Schedule of the Act that has compliance oversight over the reporting entity identified in Column 1 of the Schedule.
In keeping with this framework, the Guyana Gold Board was formally designated as the Supervisory Authority for Dealers in Precious Metals (Gold Dealers) in 2012 by the Minister of Finance pursuant to the powers granted under Section 22 of the AML/CFT Act.
Who We Supervise?
Guyana Gold Board (GGB) is a Supervisory Authority for reporting entities carrying on the following regulated activity/ business set out in Section 2 and the Fourth Schedule of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act 2009:
- Dealing in precious metals when the persons dealing engage in any cash transaction with a customer equal to or above the applicable designated threshold
GGB currently supervises five (5) Dealers in Precious Metals including:
- Adamantium Metals Inc.
- Dinar Trading
- El Dorado Trading
- Gold Bar Development & Consulting Inc.
- Pure Diamond Inc.
What do we do as a Supervisory Authority?
As a designated supervisory authority under the AML/CFT Act 2009, the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) is required to perform several key functions to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing obligations. These include:
- Guidance and Training: Issuing instructions, guidelines, and recommendations; conducting training for reporting entities; and informing them of legal amendments related to money laundering, terrorist financing, or proceeds of crime.
- Monitoring and Inspection: Entering business premises during normal hours to inspect, copy, or extract documents; observe operations; and request explanations or information relevant to AML/CFT matters.
- Domestic Cooperation: Promptly sharing information and cooperating with local law enforcement authorities in investigations, prosecutions, or proceedings related to financial crimes.
- Suspicious Activity Reporting Standards: Developing communication standards for reporting suspicious activities in line with national and international best practices.
- Foreign Branch Oversight:
- Ensuring foreign branches and subsidiaries apply AML/CFT measures consistent with the Act where permitted by local laws.
- Requiring reporting entities to notify authorities if foreign branches cannot comply.
- Where host country laws are weaker, imposing the highest permissible standards.
- Mandating additional risk-mitigation measures if foreign compliance is inadequate.
- Considering further actions, including closing operations in non-compliant jurisdictions.
- Strict adherence to FATF Recommendations in countries with poor compliance.
- Reporting Suspicious Transactions: Submitting reports to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) within three working days upon acquiring information suggesting possible money laundering, terrorist financing, or proceeds of crime.
- International Cooperation: Exchanging information and collaborating with foreign agencies involved in AML/CFT investigations or prosecutions.
- Record Keeping and Statistics: Maintaining data on enforcement actions and sanctions applied under the Act.
These functions support GGB’s oversight role in ensuring that reporting entities in the dealers in precious metals sector uphold robust AML/CFT standards.
