PHILIPSBURG--Central Bank for Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS) Interim President Jose Jardim urged St. Maarten on Monday to do its utmost to comply with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regulations and avoid being blacklisted for non-compliance.
He was at the time responding to a question from a Member of Parliament (MP) for the CBCS’ view on the matter. “It is vital for the monetary union to prevent any blacklisting, and all situations required to prevent blacklisting the CBCS favours that as well,” Jardim told MPs during the session, in which CBCS made a presentation on economic developments in Curaçao and St. Maarten.
Jardim said CBCS had been informed that changes to the penal code include changes not relevant to the FATF process. However, he urges St. Maarten to ensure that any amendments required are approved.
“Because when we get blacklisted, it will be very difficult for St. Maarten to be removed from that list and it would shut down the economy of St. Maarten,” he warned. “The economy of St. Maarten depends and relies mostly on tourism and that means that payment system will be shut down from abroad, which will make it impossible for you to keep your tourism industry in place.”
The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) issued a public statement against St. Maarten in November last year for its failure to comply with the international standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
No consequences have been imposed on the country just yet. However, this may still take place in May of this year if the Parliament of St. Maarten does not approve the Penal Procedures Code and correct other deficiencies in its anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing regulations, Justice Minister Egbert Jurendy Doran had said at the time.
The public statement against St. Maarten was made during CFATF’s 50th Plenary Meetings in Antigua, November 24-29 last year.
