Natalie O. Sandiford, CAMS, LEC, LLM, MSc

AML/CFT enforcement in the Caribbean is shifting from outputs to outcomes as jurisdictions prepare for the FATF 5th Round. By adopting risk-based supervision and outcome-focused strategies, regulators can enhance compliance, strengthen resilience, and build international credibility.

Regulatory transparency and supervisory accountability ensure oversight frameworks remain clear, fair, and trusted. By promoting openness and responsibility, regulators strengthen compliance, build resilience, and protect financial systems.

Public interest in financial regulation highlights transparency, accountability, and consumer protection. By aligning oversight with societal needs, regulators strengthen trust, resilience, and fairness in financial systems.

Proportionality in supervision and regulation ensures that oversight frameworks remain balanced, risk-sensitive, and adaptable. By tailoring requirements to the size, complexity, and risk profile of institutions, regulators can strengthen compliance efficiency while avoiding unnecessary burdens. This approach supports resilient financial systems, fosters innovation, and aligns supervisory practices with global standards, particularly in emerging markets and the Caribbean context.

Templates offer structure, language, and the illusion of readiness. But in the context of AML/CFT, they often impose procedures that bear no resemblance to the institution’s actual risk exposure.

Money laundering undermines financial systems by disguising illicit proceeds as legitimate income. This article explores the three-stage money laundering cycle, namely: placement, layering, and integration.

At the recent Altus Regional Panel Discussion on Implementing a Risk Based Approach, speakers explored the rise of AI-driven deception and how criminals exploit the same digital tools designed to promote financial system integrity. From deepfakes and synthetic identities to automated laundering through fintech rails, the threat has become faster, more scalable, and more difficult to detect.

Effective AML Compliance Training equips Financial Institutions, DNFBPs, VASPs and TCSPs with risk-based frameworks aligned to the FATF Recommendations, and strengthens their ability to deter, detect and report illicit finance.

Identifying the ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) is key to ensuring transparency in corporate structures. The UBO refers to the individual or individuals who ultimately own or control a company, whether directly or indirectly, through significant shareholding, voting power, or other means of influence. Identifying the UBO of a company can be complex, especially where ownership is dispersed across numerous shareholders or held through multiple layers of intermediaries.

Get insights on the February 2025 update to the FATF Recommendations and how these changes will improve financial inclusion across the Caribbean.