The Ministry of Tourism recently signed an MOU between the Gaming Inspectorate and the Financial Intelligence Agency of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The MOU was established to encourage the exchange of information related to money laundering, associated predicate offences (which include corruption, bribery and extortion) and terrorist financing offences.
The MOU was signed by Minister Ralph Higgs and Director of Financial Intelligence Agency Mr. Dwayne Baker. Present at the signing and instrumental in its development were, Mr. Stuart Taylor, Deputy Permanent Secretary Tourism, Mrs. Shayone Gardiner and Mr. Desmond Ewing, Actg. Director Gaming.
Commenting on the exchange Minister Higgs stated, “This MOU is a significant step forward in our quest to the detection and combating of financial crimes, and terrorism activities within our country. This alliance is certainly one which serves to strengthen our capabilities with regulatory oversight through the exchange of information”
The Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) serves as the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) for the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) and is one of more than 150 FIUs making up the Egmont Group. The FIA is responsible for the receipt, storage, analysis and dissemination of information related to Anti Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism and connected crimes in observance of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) international standards on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation.