Finance Minister Larry Howai has questioned the legitimacy of reported moves by France to place T&T on a blacklist of countries that do not help investigate foreign aid fraud. One possible consequence of the French ban is that French banks will be prevented from distributing development funds in those countries on the list.
In a statement issued on Tuesday night, Howai said: “I question the legitimacy of this categorisation of Trinidad and Tobago and I consider that there are no grounds for including Trinidad and Tobago on such a list. “I am confident that the controls that exist in our banking and regulatory systems compare favourably with those in any other jurisdiction.”
Howai said he was advised that French officials may have tried to justify the move by claiming there was a lack of transparency in the nations on the list and that poor and developing countries were often the main victims of fraud.
The Finance Minister said that he attached the “highest priority” to getting a full understanding of the remarks by the France’s Minister for Aid for Development and by extension the Government of France “particularly in light of the fact that the Government of France seems to have taken this action on a purely discretionary basis without reference to us.”
Howai said he was advised that Foreign Minister Winston Dookeran was seeking clarification from the French Embassy regarding the basis for the statement. Howai said: “I wish to emphasise that I have not been made aware of any blacklisting of Trinidad and Tobago by the Government of France.
“However, I am certainly aware that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has removed Trinidad and Tobago from its list of countries with strategic Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing deficiencies having established a fully functional Financial Intelligence Unit and put the systems in place to ensure a robust regulatory framework.”