Members of our Team, Nicola Berry and Ashley Mayers, recently attended the Anti-Money Laundering Authority Compliance Unit’s inaugural Regional Conference on October 17 and 18, 2024. The theme for the conference was “Protecting the Vision of a Fully Compliant AML Network in the Caribbean: Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession (DNFBP) Edition”. It focused on the DNFBP sector and brought local, regional and international industry specialists and regulators together for enlightening discussions on current issues.

The sessions raised key industry concerns and identified potential solutions surrounding Know Your Client (KYC) Risk Assessments, The Development of AI in KYC, The FATF AML/CFT/CPF 5th Round of Mutual Evaluation, Cyber Security, Due Diligence Capabilities and Suspicious Transaction Reporting within the region.

Highlights include:
1. It is crucial for DNFBPs to know their clients by undertaking the necessary KYC checks; it is also important for them to know their employees;
2. There are tensions between data privacy requirements and AML disclosure requirements; compliance is still possible;
3. Suspicious Transaction Reports must be filed with the relevant authority in the shortest time possible from the time the suspicion arose and in any event within the required time period; it can also be filed in circumstances where a person was not onboarded as a client;
4. AI tools can assist with more efficient KYC processes; and
5. It is necessary to operate from a risk-based approach rather than only a rules-based approach when designing and implementing AML compliance programmes.
We look forward to participating in future regional conferences held by the Compliance Unit.