ADDRESS BY SIR RONALD MICHAEL SANDERS, CHIEF FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPRESENTATIVE WITH MINISTERIAL RANK OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA AND IN-COMING CHAIR OF CFATF, ON THE OCCASION OF THE OPENING OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS MEETING OF CFATF, 23 OCTOBER 2003

Mr Master of Ceremonies, Honourable Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Honourable Ministers, Heads of Delegation, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

Let me first thank the members of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force for the honour accorded to Antigua and Barbuda and to me to serve as Chairman of this organisation over the next year.

Yesterday when I presented the Chairman's Work Programme to the Plenary Session of this Conference, it received the unanimous support of the CFATF membership. I take this opportunity to thank the membership for their endorsement, and for their pledges of support.

I made the point in the Plenary Session yesterday, and I repeat it now that a central task of my Chairmanship will be to integrate the membership more closely.

There must be no division between English-Speaking and Spanish-Speaking members; there must be no separation between English-Speaking and Dutch-Speaking members; there must be no gap between English-speaking and French-speaking members.

The resources that this organisation attracts, and the initiatives which it undertakes, must benefit each of its members on an equitable basis regardless of the language they speak or the accent with which they speak it.

The scourge of money laundering and terrorism financing, which we are fighting, respects no language, and acknowledges no borders.

It is global in its reach and pernicious in its consequences to the livelihoods and well being of all our peoples.

To combat it successfully, requires us to work together closely, putting aside artificial divisions imposed upon our Region by the imperial designs of a by-gone age.

This task is central to my purpose as Chairman.

Let me repeat it in Spanish.

Esta tarea es sumamente importante para el desempeno de mi papel como Presidente.

In working together with the international community in supporting the objectives of CFATF we in Antigua and Barbuda do so from the strength of our experience in always demanding that the region be treated as a full and equal partner in any process.

It is well known that Antigua and Barbuda has a close relationship with the United States of America with whom we are pleased to collaborate in anti-drug trafficking and anti-money laundering matters.

But, we have not hesitated to defend our national interests when the occasion arises.

We currently have a matter in respect of Internet Gaming before the World Trade Organisation, the only credible rule-setting body available for disputes of this type, to resolve what amounts to a serious threat to our economic well-being.

We will not be marginalized in matters that bear on our national and regional interest.

We owe no less to our people.

In this connection, in our leadership of CFATF in the international community over the next year, the interests of the members of the Organisation will be a paramount concern. We will be as faithful to those interests and as fearless in defending them, as we have been in respect of our own.

There are some important challenges ahead for CFATF.

Amongst them is seeking a common and mutually agreed methodology by which the anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing regimes of our countries will be assessed.

We would like to see two things in relation to the methodology.

First, we want full participation in its formulation, and second, we want to see it applied equally to all jurisdictions in every part of the world so that our people are not disadvantaged by it.

To this end, we welcome an invitation by the Financial Action Task Force to participate in a meeting in Washington in December to finalise this methodology.

Our members have been promised sight of a draft of the methodology by mid-November so that we could collectively devise a common response to it before the December meeting.

We will hold the FATF and the IMF/World Bank to this undertaking.

A second challenge is the ongoing work of the FATF in revising its 40 Recommendations on anti-money laundering. The current President of the FATF is on record as saying that he wishes to improve working relations between the FATF and regional bodies such as CFATF.

We will also hold him to his word.

We look forward to being closely involved in any further revision of the FATF Recommendations.

We will also take the initiative to organise a meeting of the leadership groups of the several Regional FATF-Style bodies comprising the Asia Pacific Group, the Financial Action Task Force on Anti-money Laundering Group in South America, the Eastern and Southern Africa Money Laundering Group and the FATF itself.

We will do this because it is obvious that the world needs a genuinely consultative and participatory mechanism in which all regions meet as equal partners to devise and agree the mechanisms for an effective fight against money laundering and terrorism financing.

There are also issues internal to the structure of CFATF that need to be confronted. Issues of governance to make the organisation more responsive to member's needs; the delivery of more effective and relevant training and technical assistance; budgetary issues and the related sense of ownership of CFATF by all its members, English, Spanish, French and Dutch speaking from across the Caribbean Basin.

The CFATF had as one of its original principles the development of a peer group review process to evaluate compliance with the 40 Recommendations, following the Kingston Declaration in 1992. This concept of peer review remains central to the ethos of CFATF mutual evaluations.

Peer review will continue to contribute towards our greater understanding of the relative strengths and weaknesses of each of our members AML/CFT defences.

In this shared endeavour, we find renewed strength particularly if we take action to give assistance to each other where it is needed, and to stand up for each other when it is required.

We also require assistance from the FATF countries.

But, let me make it clear that our request for assistance is not a begging bowl.

The assistance we need is as much in the interests of the FATF countries as it is in ours.

Yesterday, Spain speaking on behalf of the FATF members, indicated that their support would continue. We look forward to this continued support in the areas of critical and urgent need of our members.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

CFATF is now a decade old.

It is a maturing organisation, and one that should command the pride of its member countries.

We are well aware that of the FATF-style Regional bodies, CFATF is the most highly developed.

Over the next year, I will urge member governments stamp their ownership on the Organisation and celebrate its considerable accomplishments. It should be our collective voice in the international community in furtherance of our countries interests.

Antigua and Barbuda looks forward to the challenges of the year to come.

All member states can be assured of our commitment and our determination to make a difference.

Muchas Gracias

Merci beaucoup

Thank you.