AML / CFT: Netherlands Antilles becomes Curaçao and St. Maarten
A due diligence issue in the making, perhaps? On 10th October 2010, Netherlands Antilles ceased to be a constituent part of The Netherlands. As Curaçao and St. Maarten, they are now discrete jurisdictions. That means that it's former relationship with financial regulators in The Netherlands is no more. And that means that its own laws, regulations and legal system must be considered for compliance and risk management.
One of the first acts of the new country was to apply for membership of The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force. The FATF is the grand-daddy of the FATF-Style Regional Bodies and produced its Aruba Declaration before the FATF 40 Recommendations.
During the XXXII Plenary meetings held in the Cayman Islands during 2-3 November, 2010, CFATF Members unanimously recommended that the Council of CFATF Ministers approve the membership applications and on Thursday 4th November 2010, the Ministers obliged by endorsing the recommendation.
The membership of the CFATF has now grown to twenty-nine countries. All that is now left is the formal signing of the CFATF Memorandum of Understanding, by both countries, in Honduras, during the next plenary meeting carded for May 2011.
The CFATF is anxious to reassure those who assess country risk that the change means no increase in risk: it says "the international community can be assured that there are no gaps in the worldwide implementation of the FATF’s 40 + Nine AML/CFT Recommendations because already two teams of assessors are being mobilised to conduct the mutual evaluations of both Curacao and St. Maarten during the months immediately following the official signing of the CFATF MOU."
The 29 member countries of the CFATF are now CFATF members are Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados , Belize , Bermuda, The British Virgin Islands, The Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica , Dominican Republic , El Salvador , Grenada , Guatemala , Guyana , Republic of Haiti , Honduras , Jamaica , Montserrat, Nicaragua , St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia , St. Maaten, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Suriname , The Turks & Caicos Islands, Trinidad & Tobago, and Venezuela"
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