|
|
Sanctions:
None applicable.
____________________________________________________
Offshore Jurisdiction Blacklists:
Information unavailable.
____________________________________________________
US State Department Money Laundering Report - 2011:
Money laundering in Jamaica is primarily related to proceeds from
illegal narcotics and to a lesser extent psychotropic substances.
Criminal proceeds laundered in Jamaica are derived from both
domestic and foreign criminal activities, but primarily from foreign
criminal activities. Money laundering is largely controlled by
organized criminal groups whose primary activity is drug
trafficking. Public corruption also contributes to money laundering
and most often occurs when a public contract is awarded that
gives an organized criminal group the opportunity to benefit.
Jamaica has experienced a slight increase in financial crimes,
primarily emanating from the Lotto Scam and electronic
frauds/cybercrimes.
There is a significant black market for smuggled goods in
Jamaica, but there is no data or intelligence to suggest that
smuggling is funded by proceeds from narcotics or other illicit
means. However, evidence suggests that funds generated from
contraband smuggling are laundered through the financial system.
DO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ENGAGE IN CURRENCY
TRANSACTIONS RELATED TO INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS
TRAFFICKING THAT INCLUDE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF US
CURRENCY; CURRENCY DERIVED FROM ILLEGAL SALES IN
THE U.S.; OR THAT OTHERWISE SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT THE
U.S.: NO
CRIMINALIZATION OF MONEY LAUNDERING:
“All serious crimes” approach or “list” approach to predicate
crimes: List approach
Legal persons covered: criminally: YES civilly: YES
CRIMINALIZATION OF TERRORIST FINANCING:
Ability to freeze terrorist assets without delay: YES
UN lists of designated terrorists or terrorist entities distributed to
financial institutions: YES
(Please refer to the Department of State’s Country Reports on
Terrorism, which can be found here: http://www.state.
gov/s/ct/rls/crt/)
KNOW-YOUR-CUSTOMER RULES:
Covered entities: Banks, credit unions, merchant banks, wire-
transfer companies, exchange bureaus, remittance companies,
mortgage companies, insurance companies, securities brokers
and other intermediaries, securities dealers, and investment
advisors
Enhanced due diligence procedures for PEPs: Foreign: YES
Domestic: YES
SUSPICIOUS TRANSACTION REPORTING REQUIREMENTS:
Covered entities: Banks, credit unions, merchant banks, exchange
bureaus, remittance companies, mortgage companies, insurance
companies, securities brokers and other intermediaries, securities
dealers, and investment advisors
Number of STRs received and time frame: 249,130 in 2010
Number of CTRs received and time frame: 113,435 in 2010
MONEY LAUNDERING CRIMINAL
PROSECUTIONS/CONVICTIONS:
Prosecutions: None in 2010
Convictions: Three in 2010
Assets forfeited: criminally: None civilly: None
RECORDS EXCHANGE MECHANISM:
With U.S.: YES
With other governments/jurisdictions: YES
Jamaica is a member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task
Force (CFATF), a Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-style
regional body. Its most recent mutual evaluation can be found
here: http://www.cfatf-gafic.org/mutual-evaluation-reports.html
ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES AND
COMMENTS:
The Financial Investigations Division Act became law on April 17,
2010. This Act establishes the Financial Investigations Division
(FID) by statute and empowers it to undertake financial crime
investigations, including money laundering, with a greater level of
effectiveness and authority. Before the Act, the division was
established by action of the Minister of Finance with limited
enforcement authority. However, the FID’s capacity to enforce
AML/CFT laws is restricted by resource issues and the limited
amount of time within the law to process consent to processing of
a transaction subject to a suspicious transaction report after it is
reported by a financial organization. Additionally, designated non-
financial businesses and professions are not covered under
Jamaica’s AML law. On June 7, 2010, the Cabinet accepted and
approved recommendations on a proposed supervisory regime
for these entities and the categories of persons to be designated
as gatekeepers.
Effectiveness is also hindered by lengthy delays in the court
system in the processing of judicial orders. There is a need to
amend the Jamaica’s Evidence Act to allow witnesses overseas to
give evidence by way of video conferencing. This would assist in
the investigation and prosecutions of financial crimes, particularly
cases where the victims are overseas. Consideration should also
be given to the establishment of a special court to deal with
financial crimes in order to fast track those cases.
A total of sixty-four money laundering cases are being
investigated, and the government has seized $2.3 million in cash
derived from the international drug trade. These cases are
pending before the courts, which will decide whether the seized
funds will be forfeited.
Through the Caribbean Regional Drug Law Enforcement Training
Centre (REDTRAC) located in Jamaica, the government and its
bilateral partners provide specialized training for regional law
enforcement officers in areas such as narcotics investigations,
intelligence gathering and analysis, kidnapping and extortion,
money laundering, financial fraud and assets tracing. The
institution serves law enforcement officials from Jamaica and
across the Caribbean region.
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Narcotics Report 2012 (introduction):
Jamaica continues to be the largest Caribbean supplier of
marijuana to the United States. Although cocaine and synthetic
drugs are not produced locally, Jamaica is a transit point for
drugs trafficked from South America to North America. Drug
production and trafficking are both enabled and accompanied by
organized crime, domestic and international gang activity, and
police and government corruption. The gun trade for illicit drugs
exacerbates the problem as undocumented handguns are moved
into the country in exchange for drugs.
Drugs flow into, through and from Jamaica in small boats and
large vessels (both inside the vessel and in parasite containers
attached to the hull), as contraband carried by ship and aircraft
passengers, within shipping containers, and to a limited degree by
private aircraft. Most drugs leaving Jamaica are bound for North
America. However, some amounts of marijuana and cocaine are
smuggled from Jamaica into England, Belgium, Germany and the
Netherlands, either using personal couriers, cargo on commercial
aircraft, or by inserting the drugs into shipping containers that
pass through Kingston’s busy container terminal and continue
onto Europe.
Factors that contribute to drug trafficking are the country’s
convenient position as a point for narcotics being trafficked from
Latin America; its lengthy, rugged and difficult-to-patrol coastline;
a high volume of tourist travel by individuals and private boats; its
status as a major transshipment point for shipping containers
between Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa; and, a struggling
economy that encourages cultivation of marijuana in remote
swamps and mountain areas.
Law enforcement authorities are moderately effective in
combating illicit trafficking with competent and dedicated
leadership, but their efforts are undercut by a slow and marginally-
effective criminal justice system, a lack of sufficient resources,
and corruption. Jamaican law stipulates that possession or use of
cocaine; heroin, marijuana, and ecstasy are illegal and subject to
criminal and civil penalties. The illegitimate possession of
precursor chemicals is also prohibited by law.
Jamaica is a signatory to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.
For Full report, click here
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report 2011
(introduction):
(Tier 2)
Jamaica is a source, transit, and destination country for adults
and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. NGOs
report that the most common form of trafficking in Jamaica is sex
trafficking, which allegedly occurs in night clubs, bars, and private
homes. The populations most vulnerable to trafficking include
women and children from poor and single-parent backgrounds.
People living in Jamaica’s poverty-stricken garrison communities,
territories ruled by criminal “dons” that are effectively outside of
the government’s control, are especially at risk. NGOs have
reported that child sex tourism is a problem in Jamaica’s resort
areas. In addition, massage parlors in Jamaica reportedly often
lure women into prostitution under the false pretense of
employment as massage therapists and then withhold their wages
and restrict their movement – key human trafficking indicators.
Foreign victims have been identified in forced prostitution and
domestic servitude in Jamaica. Jamaican children also may be
subjected to forced domestic service and forced begging. An
NGO working with street children reported that the forced labor of
children in street vending is prevalent. There is evidence that
foreign nationals are subjected to forced labor in Jamaica. Some
Jamaican women, men, and girls have been subjected to forced
labor or sex trafficking in Canada, the United States, the UK,
countries throughout the Caribbean, and elsewhere.
The Government of Jamaica does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is
making significant efforts to do so. The government made strides
in investigating international sex and labor trafficking operations
and initiated four new prosecutions. The government also made
progress in identifying foreign victims. The government reported
no convictions of trafficking offenders or any officials complicit in
human trafficking during the reporting period, and there were few
results regarding Jamaican citizen victims of sex trafficking or
forced labor assisted in Jamaica.
For full report click here
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Terrorism Report 2010
Jamaican-U.S. counterterrorism cooperation included the
Container Security Initiative and law enforcement cooperation.
Jamaica also worked closely with the immigration and security
agencies of countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom,
both of which have sizeable Jamaican émigré communities and
serve as transit points for travelers to Jamaica from many world
regions.
Jamaica is a member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task
Force. Jamaica has supported implementation of UNSCRs 1267
and 1373.
Jamaica is a member of the regional organizations Caribbean
Community (CARICOM) and the OAS. Within the OAS, Jamaica is
an active member of the Inter-American Committee Against
Terrorism. Jamaica also actively supports efforts to improve
regional security through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.
The CARICOM Council of Ministers of National Security meets
regularly to discuss regional threats to security, including
terrorism. Jamaica’s Minister of National Security, Dwight Nelson,
hosted the most recent such meeting on December 1, 2010 in
Montego Bay.
____________________________________________________
AML News / Updates
October 10, 2010 - The Global Forum on
Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes has
issued phase one peer reviews covering the legal and regulatory
frameworks for
transparency and exchange of tax information
Read Report....
Links:
Worldwide AML Legislation (International Bar Association)
None applicable.
____________________________________________________
Offshore Jurisdiction Blacklists:
Information unavailable.
____________________________________________________
US State Department Money Laundering Report - 2011:
Money laundering in Jamaica is primarily related to proceeds from
illegal narcotics and to a lesser extent psychotropic substances.
Criminal proceeds laundered in Jamaica are derived from both
domestic and foreign criminal activities, but primarily from foreign
criminal activities. Money laundering is largely controlled by
organized criminal groups whose primary activity is drug
trafficking. Public corruption also contributes to money laundering
and most often occurs when a public contract is awarded that
gives an organized criminal group the opportunity to benefit.
Jamaica has experienced a slight increase in financial crimes,
primarily emanating from the Lotto Scam and electronic
frauds/cybercrimes.
There is a significant black market for smuggled goods in
Jamaica, but there is no data or intelligence to suggest that
smuggling is funded by proceeds from narcotics or other illicit
means. However, evidence suggests that funds generated from
contraband smuggling are laundered through the financial system.
DO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ENGAGE IN CURRENCY
TRANSACTIONS RELATED TO INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS
TRAFFICKING THAT INCLUDE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF US
CURRENCY; CURRENCY DERIVED FROM ILLEGAL SALES IN
THE U.S.; OR THAT OTHERWISE SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT THE
U.S.: NO
CRIMINALIZATION OF MONEY LAUNDERING:
“All serious crimes” approach or “list” approach to predicate
crimes: List approach
Legal persons covered: criminally: YES civilly: YES
CRIMINALIZATION OF TERRORIST FINANCING:
Ability to freeze terrorist assets without delay: YES
UN lists of designated terrorists or terrorist entities distributed to
financial institutions: YES
(Please refer to the Department of State’s Country Reports on
Terrorism, which can be found here: http://www.state.
gov/s/ct/rls/crt/)
KNOW-YOUR-CUSTOMER RULES:
Covered entities: Banks, credit unions, merchant banks, wire-
transfer companies, exchange bureaus, remittance companies,
mortgage companies, insurance companies, securities brokers
and other intermediaries, securities dealers, and investment
advisors
Enhanced due diligence procedures for PEPs: Foreign: YES
Domestic: YES
SUSPICIOUS TRANSACTION REPORTING REQUIREMENTS:
Covered entities: Banks, credit unions, merchant banks, exchange
bureaus, remittance companies, mortgage companies, insurance
companies, securities brokers and other intermediaries, securities
dealers, and investment advisors
Number of STRs received and time frame: 249,130 in 2010
Number of CTRs received and time frame: 113,435 in 2010
MONEY LAUNDERING CRIMINAL
PROSECUTIONS/CONVICTIONS:
Prosecutions: None in 2010
Convictions: Three in 2010
Assets forfeited: criminally: None civilly: None
RECORDS EXCHANGE MECHANISM:
With U.S.: YES
With other governments/jurisdictions: YES
Jamaica is a member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task
Force (CFATF), a Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-style
regional body. Its most recent mutual evaluation can be found
here: http://www.cfatf-gafic.org/mutual-evaluation-reports.html
ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES AND
COMMENTS:
The Financial Investigations Division Act became law on April 17,
2010. This Act establishes the Financial Investigations Division
(FID) by statute and empowers it to undertake financial crime
investigations, including money laundering, with a greater level of
effectiveness and authority. Before the Act, the division was
established by action of the Minister of Finance with limited
enforcement authority. However, the FID’s capacity to enforce
AML/CFT laws is restricted by resource issues and the limited
amount of time within the law to process consent to processing of
a transaction subject to a suspicious transaction report after it is
reported by a financial organization. Additionally, designated non-
financial businesses and professions are not covered under
Jamaica’s AML law. On June 7, 2010, the Cabinet accepted and
approved recommendations on a proposed supervisory regime
for these entities and the categories of persons to be designated
as gatekeepers.
Effectiveness is also hindered by lengthy delays in the court
system in the processing of judicial orders. There is a need to
amend the Jamaica’s Evidence Act to allow witnesses overseas to
give evidence by way of video conferencing. This would assist in
the investigation and prosecutions of financial crimes, particularly
cases where the victims are overseas. Consideration should also
be given to the establishment of a special court to deal with
financial crimes in order to fast track those cases.
A total of sixty-four money laundering cases are being
investigated, and the government has seized $2.3 million in cash
derived from the international drug trade. These cases are
pending before the courts, which will decide whether the seized
funds will be forfeited.
Through the Caribbean Regional Drug Law Enforcement Training
Centre (REDTRAC) located in Jamaica, the government and its
bilateral partners provide specialized training for regional law
enforcement officers in areas such as narcotics investigations,
intelligence gathering and analysis, kidnapping and extortion,
money laundering, financial fraud and assets tracing. The
institution serves law enforcement officials from Jamaica and
across the Caribbean region.
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Narcotics Report 2012 (introduction):
Jamaica continues to be the largest Caribbean supplier of
marijuana to the United States. Although cocaine and synthetic
drugs are not produced locally, Jamaica is a transit point for
drugs trafficked from South America to North America. Drug
production and trafficking are both enabled and accompanied by
organized crime, domestic and international gang activity, and
police and government corruption. The gun trade for illicit drugs
exacerbates the problem as undocumented handguns are moved
into the country in exchange for drugs.
Drugs flow into, through and from Jamaica in small boats and
large vessels (both inside the vessel and in parasite containers
attached to the hull), as contraband carried by ship and aircraft
passengers, within shipping containers, and to a limited degree by
private aircraft. Most drugs leaving Jamaica are bound for North
America. However, some amounts of marijuana and cocaine are
smuggled from Jamaica into England, Belgium, Germany and the
Netherlands, either using personal couriers, cargo on commercial
aircraft, or by inserting the drugs into shipping containers that
pass through Kingston’s busy container terminal and continue
onto Europe.
Factors that contribute to drug trafficking are the country’s
convenient position as a point for narcotics being trafficked from
Latin America; its lengthy, rugged and difficult-to-patrol coastline;
a high volume of tourist travel by individuals and private boats; its
status as a major transshipment point for shipping containers
between Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa; and, a struggling
economy that encourages cultivation of marijuana in remote
swamps and mountain areas.
Law enforcement authorities are moderately effective in
combating illicit trafficking with competent and dedicated
leadership, but their efforts are undercut by a slow and marginally-
effective criminal justice system, a lack of sufficient resources,
and corruption. Jamaican law stipulates that possession or use of
cocaine; heroin, marijuana, and ecstasy are illegal and subject to
criminal and civil penalties. The illegitimate possession of
precursor chemicals is also prohibited by law.
Jamaica is a signatory to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.
For Full report, click here
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report 2011
(introduction):
(Tier 2)
Jamaica is a source, transit, and destination country for adults
and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. NGOs
report that the most common form of trafficking in Jamaica is sex
trafficking, which allegedly occurs in night clubs, bars, and private
homes. The populations most vulnerable to trafficking include
women and children from poor and single-parent backgrounds.
People living in Jamaica’s poverty-stricken garrison communities,
territories ruled by criminal “dons” that are effectively outside of
the government’s control, are especially at risk. NGOs have
reported that child sex tourism is a problem in Jamaica’s resort
areas. In addition, massage parlors in Jamaica reportedly often
lure women into prostitution under the false pretense of
employment as massage therapists and then withhold their wages
and restrict their movement – key human trafficking indicators.
Foreign victims have been identified in forced prostitution and
domestic servitude in Jamaica. Jamaican children also may be
subjected to forced domestic service and forced begging. An
NGO working with street children reported that the forced labor of
children in street vending is prevalent. There is evidence that
foreign nationals are subjected to forced labor in Jamaica. Some
Jamaican women, men, and girls have been subjected to forced
labor or sex trafficking in Canada, the United States, the UK,
countries throughout the Caribbean, and elsewhere.
The Government of Jamaica does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is
making significant efforts to do so. The government made strides
in investigating international sex and labor trafficking operations
and initiated four new prosecutions. The government also made
progress in identifying foreign victims. The government reported
no convictions of trafficking offenders or any officials complicit in
human trafficking during the reporting period, and there were few
results regarding Jamaican citizen victims of sex trafficking or
forced labor assisted in Jamaica.
For full report click here
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Terrorism Report 2010
Jamaican-U.S. counterterrorism cooperation included the
Container Security Initiative and law enforcement cooperation.
Jamaica also worked closely with the immigration and security
agencies of countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom,
both of which have sizeable Jamaican émigré communities and
serve as transit points for travelers to Jamaica from many world
regions.
Jamaica is a member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task
Force. Jamaica has supported implementation of UNSCRs 1267
and 1373.
Jamaica is a member of the regional organizations Caribbean
Community (CARICOM) and the OAS. Within the OAS, Jamaica is
an active member of the Inter-American Committee Against
Terrorism. Jamaica also actively supports efforts to improve
regional security through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.
The CARICOM Council of Ministers of National Security meets
regularly to discuss regional threats to security, including
terrorism. Jamaica’s Minister of National Security, Dwight Nelson,
hosted the most recent such meeting on December 1, 2010 in
Montego Bay.
____________________________________________________
AML News / Updates
October 10, 2010 - The Global Forum on
Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes has
issued phase one peer reviews covering the legal and regulatory
frameworks for
transparency and exchange of tax information
Read Report....
Links:
Worldwide AML Legislation (International Bar Association)
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| Further Tables |
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*Please note that FATF deems that a country has significant aml deficiencies if any
of the 'Core' Recommendations, R1, R5, R10, R13, SRII, or SRIV are rated either
Partially of Non-Compliant. These are marked in red.
For FATF to remove a country from the regular follow-up process, it has to be rated
Compliant or Largely Compliant in the above mentioned Core Recommendations
and the following Key Recommendations: -
R3, R4, R23, R26, R35, R36, R40, SRI, SRIII, SRV
Please also note that any risk assessment should take into consideration all
follow-up reports.
of the 'Core' Recommendations, R1, R5, R10, R13, SRII, or SRIV are rated either
Partially of Non-Compliant. These are marked in red.
For FATF to remove a country from the regular follow-up process, it has to be rated
Compliant or Largely Compliant in the above mentioned Core Recommendations
and the following Key Recommendations: -
R3, R4, R23, R26, R35, R36, R40, SRI, SRIII, SRV
Please also note that any risk assessment should take into consideration all
follow-up reports.
| JAMAICA |
| KnowYourCountry |
|
|
| Last Updated: 16 April 2012 |