Guyana Guyana

New Documents

The British Virgin Islands’ Financial Services Commission published the revised Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding Among The Regional Regulatory Authorities, which is a cooperation agreement between the regulators of 17 countries in the region on the exchange of information.

The Organization of American States published its seventh Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism report on Guyana’s implementation of the recommendations of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission Hemispheric Plan of Action on Drugs 2016-2020, concerning money laundering and drug trafficking.

News

Enforcement Actions

0 Items Found


Important Facts

  • The U.S. State Department labels Guyana as a major money laundering country. The country is a transit country for South American cocaine destined for Europe, West Africa, the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. The country conducted a national risk assessment in 2017 that found it has a medium-to-high money laundering risk and a medium terrorist financing risk. Most notably, unregulated currency exchange houses and dealers in precious metals and stones pose a risk to Guyana’s anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing system. Other areas of vulnerabilities include the banking industry and unregulated attorneys, real estate agents, used car dealers, and charities. Narcotics trafficking and real estate fraud are believed to be the primary sources of laundered funds in Guyana. However, substantial money laundering in Guyana is also derived from illicit activities, such as human trafficking, gold smuggling, contraband and tax evasion. Common money laundering methods include large cash deposits using fake agreements of sale for non-existing precious minerals, cross-border transport of concealed precious metals to avoid payment of the relevant taxes and duties, and wire transfer fraud using compromised email accounts. Despite vulnerabilities, the State Department recognizes that Guyana has strong legislation relating to money laundering, including legislation that covers legal persons and provides for enhanced due diligence for politically exposed persons. In 2020, the country’s government began work on a second national risk assessment, which is estimated to be completed in 2021.
-Source: 2021 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR)

Rankings

FATF i

Technical Effectiveness
Compliant : 1 High :
Largely Compliant : 5 Substantial :
Partially Compliant : 20 Moderate :
Non-Compliant : 23 Low :

BASEL i

Rank : 55/141
Score : 5.4/10

TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL i

Rank : 83/179
Score : 41/100

Tax Justice Network i

Rank : N/A
Score : N/A