Senator The Honourable Allyson Maynard-Gibson, Bahamas Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, has been appointed Deputy Chair of the [Caribbean Financial Action Task Force](http://www.cfatf-gafic.org/) (CFATF) 2012-2013.

Addressing CFATF’s XXVI Plenary meeting held this week in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, Senator Maynard-Gibson noted that as one of the Founding Members The Bahamas considers it an honour and privilege to be of service to the CFATF family of nations for a second time and particularly so on the special occasion of its twentieth anniversary. She thanked members for reposing confidence in The Bahamas and its people. The incoming Deputy Chair said, *“This is an exciting time for our organisation. Two years ago we took the very courageous decision to undergo a process of introspection, and reform which at times was very intense and difficult. Nevertheless we survived, stronger, restructured, focused on the main purpose of our existence and determined to succeed because the long term peace and security of this Caribbean Basin Region demand that we do.”*

Sen. Maynard-Gibson affirmed The Bahamas’ commitment to cooperation, assistance, and collaboration in advancing internationally accepted standards of excellence and compliance with the FATF recommendations, and its recognition of the importance of good and strong partnerships with the international community. *“Over the next twelve months and in support of and under the direction of Chairman Jallow, The Bahamas intends to play an active role as counsellor to those Members that are under FATF and CFATF International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) scrutiny.”* She noted that technical assistance and training are of critical importance to Members and, accordingly, The Bahamas welcomes the initiative of preparing a Technical Assistance and Training Master Plan and intends to give its fullest support to the incoming Chairman’s Work programme. The BVI has assumed chairmanship, with the Director of Policy, Research and Statistics of the BVI Financial Services Commission, Mr. Cherno Jallow, QC, as Chairman. *“The Bahamas is confident that under the vision and direction of the Virgin Islands, that the CFATF will continue to grow from strength to strength, playing an important role in the global efforts to protect the international financial system from trans-national organised criminals and those who finance terrorism and pledges to play an active role in the affairs of the CFATF and lend its fullest support to Chairman Jallow.”*

The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) is an organisation of twenty-nine Caribbean Basin states, with a Secretariat hosted by the Government of Trinidad & Tobago. The main objective of the CFATF is to achieve effective implementation of and compliance with its recommendations to prevent and control money laundering and to combat the financing of terrorism. Currently, CFATF members are Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, The British Virgin Islands, The Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Republic of Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Montserrat, Nicaragua, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Suriname, The Turks & Caicos Islands, Trinidad & Tobago, and Venezuela.