“The executive director of the CFATF (Caribbean Financial Action Task Force) informed me that the The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), members are generally pleased by the progress of The Bahamas in dealing with judicial requests,” Minister Sears said in Parliament Wednesday.
“Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America all indicated that they were pleased with the significant progress made by The Bahamas in responding to outstanding MLAT (Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties) and other judicial requests.”
However, Minister Sears said the United States has reported that no progress has been made with respect to outstanding regulatory matters.
Last week, the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report criticized The Bahamas for being slow in responding to requests for assistance in law enforcement affairs.
The Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the United States of America released the report.
The report criticizes the International Legal Cooperation Unit, within the Office of the Attorney General, for its alleged lack of response to requests for financial information on suspected money launderers and drug traffickers.
The government created the ILCU shortly after The Bahamas was blacklisted to deal exclusively with legal requests for information from other jurisdictions.
The special unit’s officers are presently dealing with 112 requests for information from 49 countries, according to the Attorney General. Most requests originate from the United States, he said.
Minister Sears pointed out that the AG’s office is responsible for advising every ministry, government department and public corporation on legal matters and is responsible for the drafting of all legislation for Parliament.
The Office of the Attorney General is also responsible for the prosecution of all criminal matters in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and the Privy Council, including the prosecution of drug offenders.
The office has 40 attorneys, 20 of whom are assigned to the Civil Division and 20 to the Criminal Division, according to the Attorney General. He said 10 of these attorneys – or 25 percent – are devoted exclusively to international cooperation matters.
“The Bahamas is freely committed to discharging its international obligation to cooperate with its international partners,” Minister Sears said.
The Attorney General said his office is currently handling eight outstanding extradition requests – some of which, because there may be multiple persons sought, are being counted as separate requests.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of The Bahamas has six outstanding requests from the United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for information on accounts held by banks licensed in The Bahamas, he revealed.
Minister Sears said the SEC is investigating alleged violations of us Federal securities laws.
The Governor of the Central Bank Julian Francis has arranged a meeting with officials from
By Tosheena Blair, The Bahama Journal
