Politicians clash as Gibraltar retained on FATF grey list
Government dismisses opposition concerns over “ignominy of being listed between Congo and Haiti” as political point scoring
Gibraltar has been retained on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) latest grey list after failing to meet deadlines set out in its removal action plan.
The igaming hub has been on the list since June 2022 after being found to have strategic deficiencies in its process to counter money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.
While the FATF noted the British Overseas Territory had made “continued progress” towards removal from the list, the deadlines for remedying its strategic deficiencies had now passed.
The FATF said Gibraltar had put in place “effective, proportionate, and dissuasive sanctions for AML/CFT breaches” but there was still more to do.
The FATF said: “Gibraltar should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies, including by showing that it is able to pursue more final confiscation judgements commensurate with the risk and context of Gibraltar.
“The FATF encourages Gibraltar to continue to implement its action plan to address the above-mentioned strategic deficiencies as soon as possible.”
The news led to an outburst from opposition politician Roy Clinton, who labelled the FATF’s decision to keep Gibraltar on the grey list as “frustrating”.
Clinton, who is Gibraltar’s Shadow Minster for Financial Services and Gaming, hit out at his opposite number Albert Isola in a statement.
Clinton said: “The Minister continues to express optimism that Gibraltar will achieve delisting, but he must accept that there is a growing sense of frustration at the failure to deliver on that optimism.
“The Minister will be aware that our financial services industry is suffering at the ignominy of being listed between Congo and Haiti as a high-risk jurisdiction.
“Given the FATF state that ‘all deadlines have expired’ we invite the Minister to make a statement in Parliament as to what practical and urgent steps are being taken to satisfy FATF that Gibraltar should be delisted at their next meeting in October 2023,” he added.
In response to Clinton’s comment, the Gibraltar government said the opposition had “succumbed to the temptation of politicising” instead of working together to remove Gibraltar from the grey list.
Isola responded: “Roy Clinton’s statement smacks of political opportunism. While the opposition seeks to undermine our efforts, the government remains resolute in achieving delisting and restoring our jurisdiction’s reputation.
“It is regrettable that the opposition has abandoned their previous responsible approach for a misconceived political advantage. They really should know better.”