PHILIPSBURG–Parliament adopted one of the two draft laws related to financial transactions and the financial intelligence unit on Monday afternoon. The second law will be up for approval today, Tuesday, at 1:00pm in Parliament House.
The adopted law is the national ordinance containing rules in order to comply with recommendation 29 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) concerning financial intelligence units. The law, in response to the recommendations of the FAFT, was passed after an amendment to allow better oversight of Parliament was accepted by both government and Parliament.
The amendment was tabled by Member of Parliament (MP) Franklin Meyers and supported by all MPs present at the time of voting. Meyers’ United Democrats party member MP Dr. Luc Mercelina was not present in the General Assembly Hall for the voting. When it came to a vote on the actual amended law, Mercelina was the only one to say “no.”
When MPs return to work today, they will deal with the draft national ordinance containing rules to prevent and combat money laundering and terrorism financing in response to the recommendations of the FATF. The United St. Maarten Party MPs Frans Richardson and Rolando Brison presented several technical amendments, the majority of which found favour with Justice Minister Cornelius de Weever and fellow MPs.
A major point of concern is the definition of a politically exposed person (PEP). The smallness and closeness of the St. Maarten community would render almost everyone a PEP, argued Brison and MP Sarah Wescot-Williams (United Democrats).
Brison has deemed the changes suggested by his party as crucial to the lives of the St. Maarten people and the way business and other financial matters are conducted in the community.
The parliamentary session is open to the public and will be live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 115, SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, Pearl Radio FM 98.1, www.sxmparliament.org, www.pearlfmradio.sx and Facebook.com/Parliament of Sint Maarten.
Bron: Daily Herald