EU’s ‘shame list’ could decimate economies, warns PM Mottley

PRIME Minister Mia Amor Mottley has once again voiced her frustration
with the “shame list” on which Barbados and other countries in the
region were placed by the European Union (EU) last month.

Mottley, who is also the Chairman of CARICOM, was speaking during the
first Extraordinary Meeting of the Organisation of African, Caribbean
and Pacific States via video conference yesterday morning where she
revealed that Barbados was not informed that it was being put back on
the blacklist, but read of it in the international media.

The CARICOM Chair stressed that left unchecked, the action taken by
the EU would further decimate the economies in the region.

“Since our financial and international business sectors are key
engines of growth for us in the Caribbean and I must confess to you,
was the only sector yet untouched by COVID until this unfortunate
action was taken with the publication of this shame list.”

Prime Minister Mottley was at the time highlighting the challenges
facing the Caribbean region, where she lamented  that this was a
unilateral decision taken at a very critical time.

“It affects Barbados, Bahamas, Jamaica, a number of us, Ghana, on a
shame list of high-risk third States deemed to have strategic
deficiencies in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing
regimes that are supposed to pose significant threats to the financial
system of the EU.

“We reject that, but moreso we say that this is in spite of the fact
that those nations whose names I have called and others on that shame
list have already committed to working with the Financial Action Task
Force, on matters that are largely regulatory and in some instances,
in the case of Jamaica and Barbados, depend on money supply and
technical issues but are not reflective of the scale of risk
associated with a list of shame.”

Prime Minister Mottley opined that this list was not established in a
transparent process with clear and concrete benchmarks.
“No one spoke to us. We read it in the international media. No one
sent a diplomatic demarche to us, nor did it respect our right to be
heard, or allowed to prioritise ongoing reforms that we are doing to
avoid being listed by anybody.

“The governments, my friends of the Caribbean region, reiterate their
unequivocal commitment to cooperate with all states in the fight
against money laundering and terrorist financing. That cooperation
requires the recognition by all of our sovereign rights and
international law and respect by the EU for the principles of good
faith, equal treatment, non-discrimination and due process. Values
which we share with the EU,” Prime Minister Mottley stated. (JH)