Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke has announced that Jamaica is now removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) its ‘grey list’ of countries that are assessed as having deficiencies in their Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (“AML/CFT”) Regimes.

The announcement follows the finance minister’s attendance at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meetings in Singapore this week, to which he led a delegation from Jamaica.

“I am proud to share that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), at its Plenary in Singapore on Friday, June 28, 2024, removed Jamaica from its ‘grey list’ of countries that are assessed as having deficiencies in their Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (“AML/CFT”) Regimes,” he said in a statement issued from Singapore after the conclusion of the meetings.

He further pointed out that while the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) and the country at large celebrate the removal from the list as a milestone achievement, “we have to look ahead to ensure we never again give the global standard setter for AML/CFT/CPT matters a reason to grey list Jamaica”.

Jamaica is therefore now preparing, like other countries, for the globally applicable fifth round of AML/CFT/CPT mutual evaluations scheduled to take place in mid-2026. As such, before the end of 2025, the GOJ will need to amend or introduce new laws to (i) regulate virtual assets and virtual asset providers (ii) make the registration of non-profit organisations mandatory and (iii) promulgate regulations that address certain targeted financial sanctions related to proliferation.

The global financial watchdog also issued a statement following the end of the meetings in Singapore, in which it commended the Jamaican authorities for making “significant progress in improving” the country’s AML/CFT regime.

The statement further outlined that, “Jamaica strengthened the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime to meet the commitments in its action plan regarding the strategic deficiencies that FATF identified in February 2020.”

As such, Jamaica will no longer be subjected to FATF’s increased monitoring process.

This is a significant achievement for Jamaica since placement on FATF’s grey list signals to international financial and other institutions to engage in enhanced due diligence when doing business with entities and individuals from a flagged country.

In February 2020, Jamaica was placed on the “Grey List” by FATF. In the aftermath of listing, the Government of Jamaica (“GOJ”) agreed to a 13-point action plan with the global authority to address Jamaica’s AML/CFT deficiencies.

In January, Jamaica became largely compliant with the implementation of three of FATF’s recommendations and was assessed as compliant with another.

“Despite the dislocating onset of the COVID-19 pandemic shortly after we agreed to this action plan, Jamaica delivered on the full range of legislative and regulatory reforms detailed in Jamaica’s action plan and ensured that the implementation of these was effective,” Dr Clarke explained.

He added that a group from FATF visited Jamaica a few months ago for an onsite visit to assess the effectiveness of the GOJ’s implementation of its action plan.

“The Joint Group confirmed to FATF that Jamaica has a robust and comprehensive understanding of its money laundering and terrorist financing risks and in its report to FATF, the Joint Group highlighted that, in some instances of the implementation of its AML/CFT framework, Jamaica was an example of global good practice,” the finance minister further shared.

While acknowledging that the journey has not been easy, Dr Clarke noted that it required painstakingly detailed and comprehensive work across the government, most of which was done during the very demanding and difficult time of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.

Minister Clarke expressed thanks to Prime Minister Andrew Holness, the National Anti-Money Laundering Committee housed at the Bank of Jamaica, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force, and former deputy governor of the Bank of Jamaica Maurene Simms for their support during the implementation of the action plan.

“As Jamaica prepares to assume the chair of the CFATF in December 2024, when we host the organisation’s 59th Plenary, we pledge our unwavering commitment to ensuring that Jamaica builds on this achievement and maintains up-to-date with the latest global standards in the AML/CFT and Countering the Proliferation of Terrorism (“CPT”) spaces,” the finance minister stated.