The Sixth Meeting of The Third Session of the Eighth Parliament got underway at the House of Assembly in Roseau last Thursday.
Legal Affairs Minister, Honourable Ian Douglas introduced several Bills to the House including a Bill to Amend the Proceeds of Crime Act, a Bill to amend the Money Laundering Prevention Act, an Act to Amend The Suppression of The Financing Of Terrorism Act and a Bill for an Act to Amend The Protection of Witnesses Act.
There will also be second and third readings of a Bill for an Act to give effect to the Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking In Persons especially women and children signed in New York on November 15, 2000.
A Bill for an Act to amend the proceeds of Crime Act and the Money Laundering Act were among the first presented and debated.
Minister Douglas in his support to these amendments said this will give the court and law enforcement agencies a stronger hand in reaching assets which are hidden.
“In terms of confiscation of assets, what do you do with those assets when they are confiscated? What is the process [put in place] if money is confiscated? Where does the money go? Does it go into a special fund and how is that fund to be managed and utilized?” These were some of the questions arising from his concern.”
However, he continued to say, “Certain amendments were made or are being made to the Money Laundering Act to strengthen the hand of law enforcement in tightening the loopholes in the law that can be exploited for illicit and illegal means.”
Minister Douglas said amendments to these important acts are in keeping with requirements of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force.
The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force is a regional body which regulates all financial activities within the Caribbean region.
“They go from jurisdiction to jurisdiction on a periodic basis looking at your various legislative regimes for closing the gaps and tightening all of the loopholes as far as illicit activity is concerned; money laundering and proceeds of crime,” he informed.”
The Legal Affairs Minister cautioned that Dominica has to do all it can to prevent the country from being blacklisted.
“Dominicans would be well familiar with the whole issue of blacklisting. In 2000-2001 when Dominica was blacklisted [it] really suffocated [our] financial system’s ability to transact. The world has really become a smaller place right now. People transfer funds from one jurisdiction, one territory to another they can literally do that with swift transfers and money transfers in a matter of minutes. The Financial Action Task Force really supervises all of those transactions around the world,” he said.
Minister Douglas reiterated that, “the Caribbean Action Task Force supervises all of those actions within our jurisdiction to ensure that every jurisdiction, every country complies with the standard operating procedures and best practice as far as financial transactions are concerned.”