THE Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is implementing proactive measures to prevent the country’s return to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list, from which it was removed in June 2024. According to representatives from BOJ, it’s strengthening its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) frameworks.

“One of the strategies that we intend to employ or have employed is ensuring that we have a greater level of leadership in AML safety matters within the Caribbean region. And through that, Jamaica will assume the chair of the CFATF in December of this year,” revealed executive director of The Prime Contact Secretariat at the BOJ, Hope Wint, during a recent Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica (ICAJ) business conference at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston.

To avoid re-entering the grey list, regional collaboration is essential, according to Wint. She highlighted the importance of building capacity across the Caribbean, which necessitates cooperation between Jamaica and its partner countries. These collaborative efforts are aimed at enhancing compliance standards with international regulations throughout the region. Notwithstanding, she also noted that there’s a need for a national collaborative effort to bolster the country’s AML safety regime.

“We need to ensure that we have robust frameworks in place for our AML safety regime. And that means we need to have effective legislation in place and that those pieces of legislation are actually functioning,” she added.

The BOJ recognises that the regime must be tailored to the specific risks and circumstances of Jamaica, pointing out that an updated understanding of risks is essential, stating that vulnerabilities change, threats change, and risks change; therefore, it will be an ongoing process. The fifth round of activities will include a refresh of the national risk assessment (NRA), with the intention to publish the updated document by December 2025. Following Jamaica’s delisting from the FATF grey list, the country is now focusing on preparations for the fifth round of mutual evaluations, which commences in 2025. Jamaica will be required to make certain submissions to the review team. The actual on-site mutual evaluation is scheduled for mid-2026.

“We have three remaining FATF recommendations that we need to be compliant with heading into the fifth round of mutual evaluations. And we are working assiduously to have those treated by March of next year,” Wint noted.

Currently, Haiti and Venezuela are the only regional countries remaining on the FATF grey list. Jamaica successful met the criteria to be removed from the FATF “grey list” earlier this year, but remains on the European Union’s blacklist.

“Once you are on the FATF’s grey list, simultaneously you are put on the EU’s blacklist,” explained Loxly Ricketts, deputy legal counsel (Financial Regulations) at the BOJ.

“The criteria for entry are the same; however, the criteria for exit may be slightly different. FATF’s grey list has a process that Jamaica has successfully completed. And then the next step is to find out if the EU is also satisfied with the measures Jamaica has implemented and whether or not Jamaica can exit the EU’s blacklist,” he added.

The FATF is an intergovernmental organisation that promotes policies and standards to protect the global financial system from money laundering, terrorist financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Jamaica was added to the FATF’s grey list in February 2020 due to deficiencies identified during a mutual evaluation conducted in 2015-2016. To be removed from the list, Jamaica needed to address key deficiencies through a targeted action plan covering 13 areas, including an updated national risk assessment and enhanced legal frameworks for microcredit entities. By January 2024, Jamaica achieved compliance with 37 of FATF’s 40 recommendations, a significant improvement from just 17 in 2017. Notably, Jamaica is now the only country fully compliant with FATF’s recommendations on beneficial ownership (Recommendations 24 and 25).