The British overseas territory of Gibraltar has been added to a financial watch list by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). This signifies that Gibraltar is under scrutiny for possible money laundering and terrorist financing activities.
The Gambling Commissioner, Andrew Lyman, expressed astonishment at this decision, asserting that Gibraltar lacks significant deficiencies in its anti-money laundering or anti-terrorism financing frameworks. He also guaranteed that Gibraltar will not escalate penalties or impose additional sanctions solely due to this inclusion.
Gibraltar has been presented with a concise action plan to rectify any financial shortcomings identified by the FATF. Lyman is confident that Gibraltar can be removed from the watch list promptly, as the action plan is very brief and comprises only two items.
Gibraltar will remain on the watch list for a period of twelve months, until the next evaluation.
Gibraltars removal from the list is a certainty, according to Lehman, who anticipates it happening within a year.
Marcus Plena, the head of the Financial Action Task Force, previously stated that the absence of sufficient anti-money laundering sanctions was the driving force behind the decision.
Lehman, however, emphasized the proactive measures taken by Gibraltar authorities. He highlighted that during the evaluation period (2020 to 2022), the Gibraltar Gambling Commission reached six regulatory agreements with five operators, resulting in a total of £3.7 million.
He argued that these agreements “are not seen as positive and concrete progress,” adding that “no guidelines have been provided on what would be considered adequate.”
Lehman instead believes that Gibraltar is “a leading jurisdiction in many ways” in enhancing its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing systems, and that its inclusion on the grey list despite its improvements in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing deficiencies is “unacceptable.”
Looking forward, he stated that the decision necessitates further on-site inspections of operators by regulators to ensure their compliance with Financial Action Task Force standards.
“We must demonstrate the soundness of our systems,” he stated. “We must acknowledge that we fell short in the current round. We must strive for excellence once more.
“To achieve this, it is essential to continue our regulatory program, as well as…”
To make it easier to conduct some planned on-site inspections that were initially scheduled for a later time, Lehman declared that Gibraltar will not alter its regulations due to being listed on the grey list.
“We will not change our standards to accommodate enforcement cases. That is not the Gibraltar approach. I do not believe the Financial Action Task Force is requesting us to do that.
“I believe the objective is not merely to increase penalties, but to show the overall effectiveness of our system and to apply penalties appropriately when needed.”
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