The British Virgin Islands was deemed to be largely compliant with international laws that govern money laundering, tax evasion and terrorism financing.
The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) published its Mutual Evaluation Report of the Virgin Islands today where it highlighted the BVI’s efforts to make itself compliant.
The BVI is a major player in the offshore banking and financial services sector. In 2021, it accounted for 29 per cent of the $245 billion in tax the world lost to corporations, according to the Tax Justice Network.
CFATF noted the British Overseas Territory remains deficient in many areas including the absence of mechanisms to go after non-cash assets of criminals.
The organisation made 40 recommendations to the government including strengthening efforts to combat money laundering and insider trading.
The BVI Government responded to the report saying it showed their commitment to improve transparency and accountability.
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley said: “We know high standards of financial integrity and transparency that meet global standards are essential. The Government has prioritised resources to support the work outlined in the Action Plan and I am confident that our public and private sectors will work together to ensure that we progress successfully.”
Minister for Financial Services, Labour and Trade, Lorna Smith said: “The Report made a number of Recommendations and I can verify that a number of these actions are already underway.”
She stated work is underway to revise the National Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Policy.
Additionally, measures are being implemented to enhance coordination and cooperation amongst law enforcement agencies.
Attorney General, Dawn Smith confirmed that implementation of the National Action Plan has started.
The attorney general said: “The Minister’s presence at the CFATF Plenary in November 2023 demonstrated the high level of commitment of the Virgin Islands Government, its respect for the CFATF and its responsibilities as a part of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Global Network. We have a strong legislative framework in place and I believe this, together with the robust partnership between the public and private sectors, means that we will be able to safeguard the integrity of our business and financial services sector and implement the CFATF Recommendations in good time and to its satisfaction.”
Smith added: “All of those engaged in business and financial services in the Virgin Islands – whether in the public or private sector – must recognise that there are those who would misuse our services. Our goal is to ensure that the Virgin Islands is always a hostile environment for illegitimate financial activity. The partnership between ourselves, our competent authorities, law enforcement agencies and the private sector, to identify and address the risks we face is vital. We must work together even more closely to mitigate them and successfully pursue the prosecution of financial crime.”
