The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) is a regional body formulated in the early 1990s, in keeping with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) model.
It is charged with implementing common counter-measures against money laundering within the member states.Saint Lucia is a partially active member of CFATF due to the lack of representation at substantial number of scheduled meetings.
In the November 2008 Mutual Evaluation Report, Saint Lucia was rated non-compliant for ten (10) of the sixteen (16) Key and Core Recommendations and received six (6) partially compliant
ratings. As a result, Saint Lucia has focused on implementing the recommendations given by the examiners. A CFATF Oversight Committee was established for that purpose. Six (6) persons are part of this core committee:
- 1 from AG’s Office
- 2 from Police
- 2 from FSRA (Executive Director & Senior Manager)
- 1 from FIA
The mandate of this committee is to examine and review Saint Lucia’s AML/CFT infrastructure and to make the necessary recommendations for legislative and policy changes. Consequently, Saint Lucia has succeeded in closing the gaps in ten (10)of the Key and Core recommendations and have been removed from the CFATF – ICRG (International Cooperative Regulatory Group) process.
Saint Lucia must prepare for the 4th Round Mutual Evaluation (2018) in respect of the revised 40 FATF Recommendations. The 2018 evaluation process begins with a pre desk review which must commence at least 18 months before the actual review.
In addition, the risk based analysis on St. Lucia must be finalized and completed prior to the commencement of the desk review. Therefore, St Lucia would have to assess its risks by applying a risk-based approach. St Lucia must identify, assess, and understand the money laundering and terrorist financing risks for the country, and should take action, including designating an authority or mechanism to coordinate actions to assess risks, and apply resources, aimed at ensuring the risks are mitigated effectively.