Gov’t touts ‘grey list’ progress, but expert says VI has a long way to go

Tom Keatinge, director of the Centre for Finance and Security at the Royal United Services Institute — one of Britain’s most respected think tanks — said the question is now how the VI behaves going forward. “It’s a good effort, no doubt, but remember these are fixes to the technical standards,” Mr. Keatinge told the Beacon this month. “The proof will be in the use of the standards — a.k.a., effectiveness." He suggested that the territory could still be a long way from leaving the list. “The leading indicator of when a country will exit the grey list is when the assessors return for a so-called ‘on-site visit,’” he said. “This is the last box to tick. So … the question is ‘When do you expect an on-site visit?’ as that is the moment to prepare the exit party.” He added that it is still hard to say how long the territory is likely to remain on the FATF list. “Most countries are on the grey list for plus or minus two years,” Mr. Keatinge said. “Cayman, for example, went on in February 2021 and came off in October 2023 — two and a half years.”