Antigua and Barbuda and “all major Caribbean and Central American countries” have been listed as “Major Money Laundering Jurisdictions” according to the latest US International
Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) – Volume Two, dedicated to money laundering – forthe year 2018.
According to an article written by Caribbean News Now Managing Editor Yuri Kemp and published by emonews.com, the offending countries – listed in alphabetical order – have been identified as follows: Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic,
El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, St.Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
The article also pointed out that the only Caribbean/Central American countries left off this year’s INCSR are the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico – both US protectorates – along with Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana, all overseas departments of France.
The US even added itself to the list of major money laundering jurisdictions along with the United Kingdom, Spain and The Netherlands – all founding members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – which works closely . . . with the European Union (EU) on tax-avoidance issues and creates the “Tax Haven Blacklist” that seeks to name and shame and then penalize countries it determines are tax havens and money laundering centers.
The US is a founding member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international financial crimes watchdog that also works in conjunction with the OECD on tax avoidance and tax-fraud-related matters.