Oct 2009 Financial News

Senator: FIU Bill needs amendments

Oct 07, 2009

OPPOSITION Senator Mohammed Faisal Rahaman has suggested a six-month sunset clause to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) Bill, saying it required extensive amendments and appeared to be the type of "stampede legislation" that was becoming the norm with Government.

Speaking at yesterday's Senate sitting, Rahaman said the FIU was hurriedly established "due to Government's delinquency" and it was almost as though Government was saying "we do we thing at the 11th hour, you (the Opposition) only have to rubber-stamp."

The FIU is one of two bills that are needed to ensure Trinidad and Tobago is not blacklisted in the Caribbean Anti-Terrorism Task Force (CATTF) plenary (meeting); the other bill, the Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Bill, 2009, was passed on Monday in the Senate.

Independent Senator Helen Drayton informed the Senate last month that a blacklisting at the meeting could severely affect the Government's plans to have Port of Spain become the region's financial capital through the Trinidad and Tobago International Financial Centre (TTIFC), as well as result in increased cost to the country in international borrowing, decreased foreign investment and pressure on local banks.

Rahaman claimed that Government established the FIU not because it was concerned about money laundering, which had resulted in so many deaths worldwide, but for the worst of motives: "So we can squeak by with a good credit rating".

Independent Senator Ramesh Deosaran in his contribution said the Bill should not pass through the Senate in its current state as there were "serious issues" that needed to be attended to. His concerns included the location of the FIU within the Finance Ministry, the lack of specified qualifications for officers, the appointment of the director and no indication of how it would be funded.

He stressed that the officers and the budget needed to be "politically insulated" and you cannot have an agency where the Finance Minister is "first cousin" to the director.

Attorney General John Jeremie defended the Bill, saying it was based on a well established model, the administrative model that was used in Barbados, Bahamas and St Kitts. He added that, while he was not saying the legislation was "perfect", its passage would carry the country further along.


Source:
Julien Neaves
Trinidad Express
Wednesday, October 7th 2009

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161541251