No. 9 of 1999. The Money Laundering (Prevention) 1 ANTIGUA
(Amendment) Act, 1999. AND
BARBUDA
[ L.S. ]
I Assent,
James B. Carlisle,
Governor-General.
3rd September, 1999.
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
No. 9 of 1999
AN ACT to amend the Money Laundering (Prevention) Act,
1996 (No. 9 of 1996).
[ 9th September, 1999 ]
ENACTED by Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda as follows:
1. This Act may be cited as the Money Laundering (Prevention) shOa title.
(Amendment) Act, 1999.
2. Section 2 of the Money Laundering (Prevention) Act (in this Amendment of -
Act referred to as the "principal Act") is amended in subsection (1) section Of No.
as follows: of 1996.
(a) by repealing "of Finance" in paragraph (b) of the
definition of "financial institution";
(b) by repealing "or other competent authority" in the
definition of "forfeiture";
( c ) by inserting after "incorporation" in the definition of
"identification record" the following:
"or the incorporation certificate by any other
name": and
ANTIGUA
AND
BARBUDA
Amendment of
section 4.
Amendment of
section 6.
Amendment of
section 9.
2 The Money Laundering (Prevention) No. 9 of 1999.
(Amendment) Act, 1999.
(d) by repealing "legal affairs" in the definition of
"Minister" and substituting the following:
"national drug control and security".
3. Section 4 of the principal Act is repealed and the following
section substituted:
"4. Where an offence under the provisions of section 3
is committed by a body of persons, whether corporate or
unincorporate, every person who, at the time of the
commission of the offence, acted in an official capacity for
or on behalf of the body of persons in respect of that
offence, whether as director, manager, secretary or other
similar officer, or was purporting to act in that capacity,
commits that offence and shall be tried under section 3."
4. Section 6 of the principal Act, is repealed and the following
section is substituted:
"6. A person who commits an offence under sections 3,
4 or 5 is liable on
(a) summary conviction to a fine of two hundred
thousand dollars or imprisonment for three
years or to both; and
(b) conviction on indictment to a fine of one
million dollars or imprisonment for seven years
or to both.".
5. Section 9 of the principal Act, is repealed and the following
section substituted:
'9. An offence under this Act, whether or not it occurred
in Antigua and Barbuda or any other territorial jurisdiction,
shall be investigated by the law enforcement authorities or
aperson authorised by the Supervisory Authority and tried,
judged and sentenced by a court in Antigua and Barbuda
without prejudice to extradition when applicable in
accordance with the law.".
No. 9 of 1999. The Money Laundering (Prevention) 3 ANTIGUA
(Amendment) Act, 1999. AND
BARBUDA
6. Section 10 of the principal Act, is amended by repealing "of Amendment of
Finance' section 10.
7. Section 11 of the principal Act, is amended as follows: Amendment of
section 11 .
(a) in paragraph (iii) by repealing "for such a purpose";
(b) in paragraph (vi) by inserting after "financial institu-
tion" the following:
"or to seek the assistance of any government
department, statutory body, or other public body";
(c) in paragraph (vii) be repealing "of Finance and the
Attorney General";
(d) in paragraph (viii) by repealing the full stop and substi-
tuting a semicolon; and
(e) by inserting after paragraph (viii) the following para-
graphs.
"(ix) may consult with any person, institution or
organisation within or without Antigua and Bar-
buda for the purposes of the exercise of its
powers or duties under the Act; and
(x) may send a copy of the report received under
paragraph (i) and any other information obtained
pursuant to this section to the person, institution
or organisation it is consulting with under para-
graph (ix).".
8. Section 12 (iii) of the principal Act, is amended by inserting Amendment of
after "Supervisory Authority" in the two places it occurs the follow- d o n 12.
ing:
"or a person authorised by the Supervisory Authority".
9. Section 13 of the principal Act, is amended in subsection (1) by Amendment of
inserting after "purpoSe" the following: section 13.
"and to relations and transactions with persons, including
business and other financial institutions, from countries that
have not adopted a comprehensive anti money laundering
programme".
ANTIGUA 4 The Money Laundering (Prevention) No. 9 of 1999.
AND (Amendment) Act, 1999.
BARBUDA
Amendment of 10. Section 16 of the principal Act, is amended by repealing
section 16. subsection (1) and substituting the following:
"(1) A Judge of the High Court may upon an application
made by the Supervisory Authority grant a mandatory injunc-
tion against an officer or employee of a financial institution in
the terms the court deems necessary to enforce compliance on
being satisfied that a financial institution has failed without
reasonable excuse to comply in whole or in part with any
obligation as provided under section 12(i), (ii), (iii) and (iv)
and section 13 (2)."
Amendment of 11. Section 18 of the principal Act, is repealed and the following
section 18. section is substituted:
"18. (1) A person who transports or causes the transpor-
tation of cash or bearer negotiable financial instruments into
or out of Antigua and Barbuh in United States currency
exceeding ten thousand dollars or equivalent in Eastern
Caribbean or other currency, or in any lesser amount pre-
scribed under the regulations issued under this Act, must
report that fact to the Supervisory Authority at the prescribed
time and in the prescribed manner.
(2) A person who fails to report the transportation of
currency or bearer negotiable financial instruments as re-
quired by subsection (1) commits an offence, and is liable on
summary conviction to imprisonment of three months or a
fine of ten thousand dollars or both and in addition the cash
'or bearer negotiable instrument being transported shall be
confiscated.
(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), property involved in a
violation of subsection (1) may be detained by the Supervisory
Authority for a period of up to t h t y days in order that
investigations may be conducted to determine if the funds are
directly or indirectly derived from or obtained through or are
connected with a prescribed offence.".
Amendment of 12. Section 19 of the principal Act, is amended as follows:
section 19.
(a) in subsection (1) by repmhng "changed with money
laundering offence" and substituting the following:
No. 9 of 1999. The Money Laundering (Prevention) 5 ANTIGUA
(Amendment) Act, 1999. AND
BARBUDA
"criminally charged in any jurisdiction with a
money laundering offence as defined in this
Act";
(b) in subsection (3) by repealing "of forty-eight hours
following the hour" and substituting the following:
"of thirty days following the day"; and
(c) by inserting after shbsection (3) the following new
subsections:
"(4) The person charged shall be notified by
the Supervisory Authority of an order made
under this section either by
(a) service at the business address of counsel
(if any) acting on his behalf;
(b) service at hls last known address,or place
of business within the jurisdiction;
(c) in the case of a body corporate the regis-
tered or principal office of the body corpo-
rate;
(d) publication in the Gazette in Antigua and
Barbuda; or
(e) publication in two consecutive issues of a
local newspaper circulating in Antigua
and Barbuda,
within fourteen days of the order being issued.
(5) The Supervisory Authority may direct a
financial institution in writing to freeze property
for a period of up to four days whilst it makes
application for a freeze order from the Court, if
it is satisfied that the property is derived from or
connected with a money laundering offence.".
13. Section 20 of the principal Act, is amended as follows: Amendment of
sectlon 20.
(a) in subsection ( 1 ) by
(i) inserting after "offence" in the fust place it
occurs the following:
ANTIGUA 6 The Money Laundering (Prevention) No. 9 of 1999.
AND (Amendment) Act, 1999.
BARBUDA
"under the laws of Antigua and Bar-
buda";
(ii) inserting after "forfeited" the following:
to the Government of Antigua and Bar-
buda."; and
(iii) repealing "and disposed of in such manner as the
minister may direct.";
(b) by inserting after subsection (1) the following subsec-
tion:
"(la) When a person is charged with a money
laundering offence under the laws of Antigua and
Barbuda and he has been notified of the charge
either by
(a) service at the business address of
counsel (if any) acting on his behalf;
(b) service at his last known address, or
place of business within the juris-
diction;
(c) in the case of a body corporate the
registered or principal office of the
body corporate;
(d) publication in theGazette in Antigua
and Barbuda; or
(e) publication in two consecutive is-
sues of a local newspaper circulat-
ing in Antigua and Barbuda,
and one hundred and eighty days after the nolifi-
cation, the preliminary inquiry or the trial has not
taken place because of his failure to appear at the
preliminary inquiry or trial in Antigua and Bar-
buda, the court shall order any property, pro-
ceeds or instrumentalities derived from, con-
nected with or related to the offence, wherever
they may be, forfeited to the Government of
Antigua and Barbuda.
( c ) by inserting after subsection (2) the following subsec-
tion:
No. 9 of 1999. The Money Laundering (Prevention) 7 ANTIGUA
(Amendment) Act, 1999. AND
BARBUDA
(2a) When a person is charged in any jurisdic-
tion other than Antigua and Barbuda with a
money laundering offence as defined in this Act,
upon application of the Supervisory Authority or
the competent authority, the court shall order any
property, proceeds or instrumentalities derived
from or connected with the offence which are
located in, or under the control of persons pres-
ently in Antigua and Barbuda, to be frozen, and
the person shall be notified of the order either by
service at his last known address and in the case
of a body corporate the registered or principal
office of the body corporate, by publication in the
Gazette in Antigua and Barbuda or by publica-
tion in two consecutive issues of a local newspa-
per circulating in Antigua and Barbuda within
four days and
(a) if the person charged does not respond
within one hundred and eighty days of the
freeze order the court shall order the fro-
zen property, proceeds and instrumentali-
ties forfeited to the Government of Antigua
and Barbuda:
(b) if the person charged provides satisfac-
tory evidence to the Court within one
hundred and eighty days of the notice of
the I k z e order that the charges were filed for
political puposes or otherwise in bad faith or
are unfounded, the mutt shall immediately
vacate its order;
(c) if the person charged provides evidence to
the Court wihn one hundred and eighty
days of the notice of the freeze order that
he is challenging the charges, then the
freeze order shall remain in force pending
the outcome of the proceedings in the
foreign jurisdction; and
(d) if the person charged is convicted of the
money laundering offence then on his
ANTIGUA
AND
BARBUDA
Insertion of section
20 A.
Amendment of
section 22.
Amendment of
section 23.
8 The Money Laundering (Prevention) No. 9 of 1999.
(Amendment) Act, 1999.
conviction becoming final the frozen prop
erty, proceeds and instrumentalities shall
be forfeited to the Government of Antigua
and Barbuda.".
14 . After section 20 of the principal Act, the following section
is inserted:
"Forfeiture 20A. (1) There shall be established a Forfei-
Fund. ture Fund (in this Act referred to as "the Fund")
under the adrmnistration and control of the Min-
ister.
(2) All funds and the proceeds from the sale of
all property forfeited under section 20 shall be
deposited in the Fund after the deduction of a
20% administrative fee to be deposited into the
Consolidated Fund.
(3) The funds and proceeds forfeited under
section 20 and deposited into the Fund shall be
used for the purpose of anti money laundering
activities and other activities the Minister deems
fit.".
15. Section 22 of the principal Act, is repealed and the following
section is substituted:
"22. The provisions of sections 19 and 20 shall apply to
all property possessed by, or under the control of a person
after the coming into force of this Act.".
16. Section 23 of the principal Act is amended as follows:
(a) by repealing subsection (5) and substituting the fol-
lowing subsections:
"(5) Assistance referred to in this section may
include providing original or certified copies of
relevant documents and records, including those of
financial institutions and government agencies, save
that no information relating to a client account held by
a financial institution shall be disclosed unless the
client is the subject of a criminal investigation
No. 9 of 1999. The Money Laundering (Prevention) 9 ANTIGUA
(Amendment) Act, 1999. AND
BARBUDA
involving the offence of money laundering and the
court has, on application by the competent authority,
ordered the disclosure of the information.
(5a) The competent authority shall cooperate with
the competent authority of another State in obtaining
testimony or facilitating the voluntary presence or
availability in the required State of persons, including
those in custody, to give testimony locating or
identifying persons, service of documents, examining
objects and places, executing searches and seizures,
providing information and evidentiary items, and
provisional measures.
(5b) Information pertaining to any investigation,
prosecution or other proceeding relating to the
imposition, assessment or collection of taxes of any
kind shall only be disclosed to any other competent
authority where a mutual assistance treaty on a
bilateral or multilateral basis exists between the
requesting State and Antigua and Barbuda in
accordance with the terms of the treaty."; and
(b) in subsection (6) by repealing "or other competent
authority".
17. (1) The amendments made to the principal Act by the money Repeal and savings.
Laundering (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 1998 are repealed and NO. 18 of l998.
the principal Act as it was before the amendment is revived.
(2) The Money Laundering (Prevention) Regulations, 1998 are S.I. 44 of 1998.
repealed.
ANTIGUA 10 The Money Laundering (Prevention) No. 9 of 1999.
AND (Amendment) Act, 1999.
BARBUDA
Passed the House of Representatives Passed the Senate this 16th day
this 26th day of August, 1999. of August, 1999.
S. Bowen
Deputy. Speaker.
S. Walker
Clerk to the House of Representatives.
M. Percival
President.
S. Walker
Clerk to the Senate.
Printed at the Government Printing Office, Antigua and Barbuda,
by Donovan Southwell, Acting Government Printer
-By Authority, 1999.
800-9.99 [ Price$4.35 1