“Dominica is closing the ‘loopholes’ on crime and security” – Attorney General

Share 982 Views   no discussions LocalNews “Dominica is closing the ‘loopholes’ on crime and security” – Attorney General by: – November 9, 2011 Tweet Share Sharing is caring! Share Attorney General Honourable Levi Peter. (file photo) While Dominica is considered to be one of the safest, peaceful and crime-free countries in the Caribbean region, the authorities are saying that ‘we should not let our guards down’ when dealing with the issue of crime and security on the island.Attorney General, Mr Levi Peter said that the four bills recently passed in Parliament are just some of the measures taken by the Government of Dominica to address issues of crime and security on the island, especially as it relates to finance and terrorism. The four bills which were tabled in Parliament at its last sitting in October 2011 are the Money Laundering Prevention Amendment Bill of 2011, the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism Bill, the Financial Intelligence Unit Bill and the Financial Services Unit Amendment Bill.The Attorney General said that the bills will seek to address money laundering issues in various aspects as well as the deficiencies in existing legislation relating to financing of terrorism. He noted that while many persons think that terrorism does not exist in the Caribbean, governments should not turn a ‘blind eye’ on the issue and wait until something ruthless happens to put the required measures in place.According to Attorney General Peter, Dominica is now set to fall in line with international regulations handed down by international security bodies. “Some of you may be aware that since 9-11 in the U.S, the International financial system has been significantly enhanced and indeed it has become quite difficult and quite a task is now being placed on several countries of the world.In particular small states like ours find compliance with the demands of the international bodies and that’s a significant challenge. You may or may not be aware that generally speaking, when the international bodies set up their rules, to a larger extent, the rules do not make exemptions or exclusions for smaller states like ours. And to an extent one can see why this may be justifiable in respect to the objectives as it relates to financial regulation and the primary objective which is to close he loopholes that are exploited by those who seek through inappropriate and unlawful means to enrich themselves or to finance illegal activities.”Dominica is now being guided by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force which governs the rule of law as it relates to issues relating to terrorism and crime.Mr Peter said that the government will do all in their power to ensure that the country meets the guidelines set by the Task Force.“In that regard the Financial Action Task Force which is the international body which oversees this aspect that I’ve been talking about has set up certain stringent regulations and they monitor very closely the international financial system. The output of that which effectively covers our region; the Caribbean and the Americas is the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force which is CFATF. Under those regimes there are certain obligations and regulations that we have to comply with. We have had to make amendmentsto some of our legislations to bring us into conformity with the demands of the regional and international bodies,” he said.Dominica Vibes News read more