Cayman Forum Island Money

(1) Patterns of Global Terrorism—1999, United States Department of State Publication 10687, April 2000.A wide-ranging joint FBI and Department of Treasury investigation into interstate cigarette smuggling, involving a suspected Hizballah terrorist cell operating in Charlotte, North Carolina, led to the July 21, 2000 arrest by U.S. authorities of 18 individuals. Ten days later a federal grand jury in North Carolina indicted these individuals, including seven suspected Hizballah supporters, for immigration fraud and related bribery and conspiracies; conspiring to smuggle contraband cigarettes; and conspiring to launder money. Many of the defendants continue to be detained prior to trial, while the investigation continues. At least seven of the defendants are suspected members of, or sympathetic to Hizballah, a foreign terrorist organization designated as such under U.S. law in 1997 and again in 1 ... [Read More]

M) Money Laundering and Financial Crimes

The following are summaries of the most significant priority issues:Refocus Efforts of High Intensity Financial Crime Areas (HIFCAs). HIFCAs are special, high-risk areas or sectors where law enforcement will concentrate its resources and energy to combat money laundering. The 2001 Strategy mandated that the HIFCA task forces become operational and conduct investigations designed to result in indictments, convictions, and seizures, rather than focus primarily on intelligence gathering. Each of the six HIFCA Task Forces is now actively working cases. HIFCA Task Forces are composed of, and draw upon, all relevant federal, state, and local agencies. The Departments of Treasury and Justice jointly supervise the HIFCA Task Forces, and the 2001 Strategy primarily tasks the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and Justice’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section to develop an advanced money laundering training program to enhance the HIFCA Task Forces’ abili ... [Read More]

Money Laundering and Financial Crimes

Cayman Islands (Primary). The Cayman Islands, a UK Caribbean Overseas Territory (COT), has an extremely large offshore sector and thus remains vulnerable to money laundering. In March 1999, UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook released a White Paper directing Britain's Overseas Territories to bring their financial and criminal legislation in line with that of the UK, as part of an agreement granting UK citizenship to citizens of Britain's Overseas Territories. In response, the Government of the Cayman Islands has taken new steps to strengthen its defenses against money laundering. In 1999, an anti-money laundering committee, consisting of representatives of both the public and the private sector, completed a code of practice, which was sent to the Executive Council for final approval. Additionally, the banking industry and the mutual funds industry drafted codes of conduct focusing on know-your-customer issues, suspicious activity and money laundering. The insurance sector and the co ... [Read More]

Other Multi-Lateral Organizations & Programs

To develop a sustainable institutional capacity in the Caribbean region to address the issues related to anti-money laundering efforts at a local, regional and international level, by strengthening existing institutional capacity at the regional level, and developing new, or enhancing existing, institutional capacity at the local level.The Programme consisted of three separate, yet interlinked, sub-programs: Legal/Judicial After conducting worldwide research of anti-money laundering laws, regulations and working practices, the legal/judicial advisor made appropriate recommendations to the respective member countries to ensure they have the necessary legal structures in place to combat money laundering. Countries with very limited facilities were also provided legislative drafting ass ... [Read More]

Other Multi-Lateral Organizations & Programs

GPML provided technical assistance and training to more than 50 countries and jurisdictions throughout the world in 2003. The UN mentor based in Tanzania, with the Secretariat of the Eastern and Southern African Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG), provided training to 14 countries and assisted the Secretariat and Member States in preparing for FATF-style mutual evaluations. Other UN mentors based in the Eastern Caribbean, covering six jurisdictions, assisted in the upgrade of the jurisdictions’ AML regimes to meet international standards. The mentor based in the Pacific region, a joint initiative with the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, gave financial investigations technical assistance to the Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Fiji, Nauru and Vanuatu, offshore financial center jurisdictions at high risk for abuse by money launderers. Mentors and experts also gave support to the development of the legal, administrative, analytical and in ... [Read More]

M) Money Laundering and Financial Crimes

Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands, a United Kingdom (UK) Caribbean overseas territory, has made significant strides in its counter-money laundering program, though it is still vulnerable to money laundering due to its significant offshore sector. With a population of approximately 40,000, the Cayman Islands is home to a well-developed offshore financial center that provides a wide range of services such as private banking, brokerage services, mutual funds, and various types of trusts, as well as company formation and company management. Cayman Islands authorities report that approximately 580 banks and trust companies, 3,178 mutual funds, and 517 captive insurance companies are licensed in the Cayman Islands. In addition, approximately 45,000 offshore companies are registered in the Cayman Islands, including many formed by the Enron Corporation. ... [Read More]

Bilateral Activities

During 2003, a number of U.S. law enforcement and regulatory agencies provided training and technical assistance on money laundering countermeasures and financial investigations to their law enforcement, financial regulatory, and prosecutorial counterparts around the globe. These courses have been designed to give financial investigators, bank regulators, and prosecutors the necessary tools to recognize, investigate, and prosecute money laundering, financial crimes, and related criminal activity. Courses have been provided in the United States as well as in the jurisdictions where the programs are targeted. Department of StateThe Department of State’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and the Department’s Office of the Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism ( ... [Read More]

International Narcotics Control Strategy Reports

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORTMARCH 1995BUREAU FOR INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AFFAIRSTHE CARIBBEAN 157Bahamas 159 Cuba 165 Dominican Republic 168 Guyana 173 Haiti 176 Jamaica 180 Netherlands Antilles and Aruba 185 Suriname 187 Trinidad and Tobago 189 Eastern Caribbean 192 Antigua and Barbuda Barbados Dominica Grenada St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent and the GrenadinesFrench Caribbean 199 UK Dependent Territories in the Caribbean 200 Anguilla, Montserrat, British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Turks and ... [Read More]

Bilateral Activities

Additional international money laundering and financial investigations training of approximately 80 law enforcement officers from 15 Central and South American countries was conducted by the ICE Financial Investigations Division in support of a program sponsored bi-annually by the Organization of American States (OAS), Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), in Lima, Peru. ICE also conducted anti-money laundering conferences for government officials in Aruba, Panama, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil and Malaysia, under the auspices of the Terrorist Finance Working Group, Department of State, INL division. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) The International Training Section of the DEA conducts its International Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering courses in concert with the Department of Justice (DOJ). In 2004, a total of 235 participan ... [Read More]

Country Reports: G-M

Gabon Gabon is not a regional financial center. The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) supervises Gabon’s banking system. BEAC is a regional Central Bank that serves six countries of Central Africa. According to a 2003 letter from the Government of Gabon (GOG) to the UN Counter Terrorism Committee, in matters concerning suspicious financial transactions, banks are bound by the instructions of the Ministry of Economic and Financial Affairs. The actual monitoring of financial transactions is conducted by the Economic Intervention Service that harmonizes the regulation of currency exchanges in the member States of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC). On November 20, 2002, the BEAC Board of Directors approved draft anti-money laundering a ... [Read More]