Jamaica Strengthens Anti-Money Laundering Measures

An Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism and Proliferation of Arms Financing Department (AML&CTF) has been established at the Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ).

The move is part of efforts to comply with the standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as well as the European Union (EU) requirements.

Establishment of the AML&CTF, along with pending amendments to the Companies Act, are intended to strengthen Jamaica’s anti-terrorism measures, and could see Jamaica taken off FATF’s grey list, as well as the blacklist of the EU.

“Our laws and our systems that we have in place needed to be further buttressed to prevent certain abuses in terms of money laundering from taking place,” Acting Chief Executive Officer and Registrar of Companies, COJ, Shellie Leon, told JIS News.

“At this point in time, there are some difficulties in terms of our people importing, exporting and in terms of foreigners investing here because there are some correspondent banking issues, which have stemmed from the fact that Jamaica has been grey listed by FATF and blacklisted by the EU,” she noted.

The Department will collaborate with other government entities and law enforcement agencies in execution of its duties.

“We will be facilitating other regulators and law enforcement agencies by providing information and cooperating with them when they are doing certain investigations, which are in furtherance of preventing activities such as money laundering, financing of terrorism and so on,” Ms. Leon said.

The amendments to the Companies Act, which are expected to be tabled in both Houses of Parliament shortly, will ensure greater transparency and improved corporate governance in companies.

The legislative measure will reduce the risk of legal persons, such as companies, being abused and used for money laundering and terrorism and proliferation of arms financing.

If the proposals are accepted by Parliament, all companies, including non-profits and overseas entities, will have to identify and indicate their beneficial owners.

A beneficial owner is any natural person that exercises ultimate ownership and effective control of a company.

“We are going to verify that the information on beneficial ownership that comes to us is correct. That means that in some cases, it will necessitate site visits to examine a company’s register of members and beneficial owners, so that we can ensure that the information that is given to us is correct and up-to-date,” Ms. Leon told JIS News.

She highlights measures that businesses can take to get ready for the Department’s implementation.

“Businesses must first ensure that they have a register of members and beneficial owners. So, make sure that you are retaining that information. It’s really more efficient if you get some software that can help you, especially for the larger businesses,” Ms. Leon suggested.

“Ensure that you implement systemic checks to see if the information you have is still current and… have automatic generated notices, which will go to your members, your beneficial owners, to see if anything has changed. The moment that you know that something has changed, check your records at COJ and ensure that it is fully up-to-date,” she advised.

Ms. Leon further noted that companies should make sure that customer documentation and information are current.

“By that, I mean …do you have proper identification on record, do you have unique things that can make you know that this person is who they really say they are. So, at this point in time, those are some of the preparatory things that businesses can be doing. And of course…you can make yourself familiar with the proposed changes and then start implementing whatever systems you need to implement in your offices,” she said.

Under the new proposals, companies may also face increased sanctions for not filing on time, not providing accurate information, not allowing the Registrar access to verify information, not keeping records for stipulated periods and not filing change documents for beneficial owners as mandated.

The COJ is an agency under the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce.

Among its main roles are to register and regulate companies and businesses, maintain accurate and up-to-date records on those commercial entities; and administer the National Security Interests in Personal Property Online Registry.

The COJ may be contacted at (876) 908-4419-24 or via website at http://www.orcjamaica.com.