Carribbean and Central America vulnerable to Money Laundering

Guatemala, Apr 26 (Prensa Latina) Experts in financial topics stated Friday that the fragility of the economies of the countries of Central America and the Caribbean makes countries from these regions vulnerable to money laundering operations.

The statement came from a discussion session between participants in the 26th Meeting of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) in progress in Guatemala since Monday.

Guatemalan Bank Superintendent Willy Zapata stated no one can deny that nations of the region are vulnerable, but defended them, saying that there is a commitment by governments to fighting money laundering.

Zapata, who is participating in the event together with experts from 31 Central American, European and Caribbean countries, said the vulnerability derives from "small countries with weak and open economies."

Panamanian Bank Superintendent Delia Cardenas stressed that it should be taken into account that globalization makes all countries potentially vulnerable.

"The financial system is so divided into regions, that we cannot talk about one single country in particular, but about regional threat," Cardenas, current CFATF President, pointed out.

CFATF was created in 1980, and follows the model of the International Financial Action Task Force (FATF), gathering the nations and territories in the Caribbean, who agreed to create measures to fight money laundering.

The meeting, which FATF Resident Director Jean Louis Ford and representatives from the United Nations (UN), the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are also attending, analyzes new trends to fight money laundering and other activities.

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