Finance Ministry says FIU is secure, no breach of confidentiality

The Ministry of Finance issued a media release Thursday giving the assurance that the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is secure.

It was in response to statements by Opposition leader Keith Rowley, suggesting that the Attorney General had asked the Director of the FIU for information pertaining to certain persons’ banking arrangements. 

"The implication was that the Director had provided such information. The report also stated that the Director was directed to “look the other way” with respect to business people who should be under scrutiny," the released stated.

The FIU made it clear that:

• It has never received any request from the Attorney General or any Minister of Government for personal or financial information on any citizen of Trinidad and Tobago
• The FIU has never given to the Attorney General or to any Minister of Government any personal or financial information on any citizen of Trinidad and Tobago
• The officers of the FIU, in particular, the Director and the Deputy Director, are fully cognizant of their duty of secrecy under the Financial Intelligence Unit Act 
• Disclosure of such information to the Attorney General or any other Minister of Government is not authorized under the Act and is illegal. This is known to all of the officers of the FIU, including its Director and Deputy Director, who follow the law in its entirety and who have taken solemn oaths of secrecy
• No officer of the FIU, and specifically the Director and Deputy Director, has ever made any unauthorized disclosure. Any claim to the contrary is false and totally without merit