US: NO MONEY LAUNDERING IN TT

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO is winning the war against money laundering and
terrorist financing, two of the major spin-off crimes of the
international trade in illegal drugs, within its borders.

This finding was contained in the second volume of the US State
Department's International Narcotics Report 2008. The first volume of
this report said while this country is a transit point for illegal
drugs, no senior government official in this country was charged with
drug-related corruption in 2007 and Government "does not encourage or
facilitate the illicit production or distribution of narcotic or
psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances or the laundering of
proceeds from illegal drug transactions."

According to volume two of the report, TT is nowhere on the list of
"major money laundering countries in 2008." Antigua and Barbuda,
Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica,
Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Panama, US, Uruguay and
Venezuela are the only countries from the Western Hemisphere on this
list. The State Department said global money laundering constitutes
three to five percent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which
according to 2007 World Bank data is US$72.3 trillion. Ten years ago,
this figure ranged between $300 to $500 billion. The State Department
further identified casinos as "cash-intensive businesses that often
provide financial services and money laundering opportunities."

The State Department said while countries hope the gaming industry
will provide "added revenue and employment," there few anti-money
laundering regulations and little oversight or control of the
industry. "In the Caribbean, the industry is largely unregulated
except for the Bahamas and the Grenadines," the State Department
added. In his 2006/2007 Budget presentation in Parliament on October
6, 2006, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said casinos were illegal,
private members' clubs must obey the law and there would be no further
expansion of the online gaming system in the country.

Volume one of the report said TT's commitment to fighting the global
drug trade is underscored by the fact that it is a signatory to the
Inter-American Convention on Corruption and United Nations Convention
on Corruption. The US government identified the 1987 Prevention of
Corruption Act and the 2000 Integrity in Public Life Act as two
important pieces of legislation which "contain the ethical rules and
responsibilities" for this country's government personnel.