PHILIPSBURG:--- The Minister of Justice has received a letter from the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) on July 24th, 2020, indicating that St. Maarten has successfully completed the Third-Round of Mutual Evaluations. The CFATF extended congratulations to St. Maarten for this accomplishment in addressing the deficiencies identified in its key and core recommendations.
Minister of Justice, Anna Richardson, stated, “Keeping the community safe, including the business sector, remains a top priority for the Ministry of Justice. The Third-Round of Mutual Evaluation Process helps us in the prevention of money laundering and financial terrorism. Despite the process being delayed due to the Penal Procedure Code, we are proud of the progress thus far, and we look forward to continue working with the CFATF. We extended our gratitude to the CFATF Team for all their hard work in supporting St. Maarten in this significant accomplishment. Indeed, this achievement should be celebrated by country St. Maarten.”
Earlier this year, the recommendations by the Third-Round of Mutual Evaluations were endorsed by the Council of Ministers. The Ministry of Justice worked closely with the CFATF ICRG team to complete their follow-up report. On July 3rd, the Council of Ministers received the report for final review and approval.
In the meantime, the CFATF secretariat has posted the notification that the public statement of non-compliance issued on November 27th, 2019, has been retracted. The successful completion of this stage means that St. Maarten can now formally apply in the coming week to exit the Third-Round of Mutual Evaluations and move on to the Fourth-Round of Mutual Evaluations. Minister Richardson will meet with Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit Ligia Stella in the upcoming week to review the recommendations of the Fourth-Round. In this proactive manner, the Ministry will gain a head start in meeting those recommendations and deadlines.
