Francois confident; will get aggressive on money laundering

Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Ministry of Finance, Susan Francois is confident that Trinidad & Tobago will get a positive review at next month’s plenary of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The financial gathering takes place from June 18 to 22 in Rome.

Francois, whose appointment was announced over the weekend, said she would lead an aggressive anti-money laundering awareness campaign for businessmen throughout the country.

This would involve registration to make the country more compliant with FATF anti-money laundering requirements. 

FATF had given a light grey rating to the country in February 2011, which was an an improvement from a dark grey rating in 2010. 

The rating means while the country has deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures these activities are being monitored by the FATF. Francois believes the FATF plenary would give T&T a better rating next month.

Francois told local media the FATF would need to make a site visit to ensure all measures are being implemented. 

Francois said her appointment would “send a positive message to FATF that T&T is committed to dealing with money laundering and counter-terrorist financing.” 

She added that police are investigating several reports received by the FIU of suspicious transaction reports from businessmen. 

The FIU is particularly vigilant about money laundering. Francois said, “Money laundering is a crime and it is linked to other serious crimes, including murder, kidnapping, fraud and human and drug trafficking.”