IMF assessors to visit BVI for Financial Action Task Force evals

The following is a media release from the Ministry of Finance.

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) will welcome assessors from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) who arrive in the BVI next week to conduct the fourth round of mutual evaluation. The mutual evaluation process assesses a country’s compliance with international standards and the effectiveness of its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) regime in line with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The assessment ten-member team comprises experts from the IMF and the CFATF, and will conduct a thorough examination of the BVI’s AML/CFT regime over a period of several weeks. The assessment will cover a range of areas, including the legal and institutional framework, the adequacy of the BVI’s AML/CFT laws and regulations, the effectiveness of its supervisory and regulatory bodies, and the BVI’s track record in investigating and prosecuting AML/CFT cases.

The BVI Government has made significant progress in strengthening its AML/CFT regime over the past several years, and the assessors’ visit represents an opportunity to showcase these efforts. The BVI is committed to maintaining a robust AML/CFT framework that meets international standards and helps to protect the integrity of the global financial system.
The BVI is a proud founding member of the CFATF and recognizes the importance of working collaboratively with regional and international partners to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The mutual evaluation process is an important tool in this effort, and the BVI looks forward to a constructive and productive assessment.

“As a founding member of the CFATF, we have an obligation to be assessed periodically.  The assessors’ visit to the BVI is an important step in the mutual evaluation process. The BVI Government and regulators are committed to providing the assessment team with all the information and support necessary to conduct a thorough and accurate assessment,” said the Managing Director and CEO of the BVI Financial Services Commission, Mr. Kenneth Baker, speaking at a recent BVI Finance Breakfast Forum.  Mr. Baker said the BVI would be assessed on both technical and effectiveness compliance.

Also speaking at the Breakfast Forum, Deputy Managing Director of Regulation, Mr. Glenford Malone, said that assessors would be reviewing the domestic and international finance sectors for the BVI.  He stressed that it was a jurisdictional assessment and that the assessors would be interviewing persons from both the public and private sectors and interacting with people in the community throughout the on-site inspection, which runs officially from 15th to 31st March 2023.

The BVI received its last CFATF assessment in 2008.