AG: Why UNC jumpy about foreign accounts

“It just does not make sense. Why are they so jumpy about foreign accounts ? That has go to be the sole question on the table because it is not only with the US we have this position, it is the entire global forum,” Al-Rawi told reporters yesterday.

The Attorney General’s comments came in relation to the controversial Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which requires the Opposition’s support to be approved. The Opposition walked out of Parliament twice on the Foreign Account legislation.

Speaking at a press conference held at the San Fernando City Corporation yesterday, Al-Rawi recalled that in her capacity as Prime Minister, Persad- Bissessar sat on the FATCA issue on four occasions in the Cabinet back in 2013.

Additionally this country was one of 116 countries which participated in 2011 in the Global Forum, a forum equivalent to foreign accounts throughout Europe and Asia pacific.

Al-Rawi accused Persad-Bissessar of doing “nothing” on this issue from 2012 to 2015. As a result of which in November 2016, the Global Forum said that Trinidad and Tobago was one of three countries in the entire forum that was non-complainant. The two others are Micronesia in the Asia Pacific and Honduras.

“Mrs Persad-Bissessar refuses to give any support to that exchange of foreign accounts information to Europe and Asia Pacific.

Why? That Global Forum is likely to shut down this country as well. Fortunately we have approached it by engaging to sign a multilateral convention with the Global Forum which will take us out of default,” Al-Rawi explained.

He added: “But again, no explanation of the risks to shut down the economy, not only on the foreign account for US, but for the global forum.

Again, why are they so afraid of foreign accounts being known?” On the issue of crime, Al-Rawi stated that it remains one of the number one issues on the priority list of Government. He noted that crime flourishes because there is profit in crime as it is a well established principle that nobody enters organised crime without profit.

“We say our mission is to take away the profits from crime.

That is why in January, you will see the AG’s office lay in Parliament a suite of legislation.

Many of those have been stripped down to not require special majority by the Opposition”, Al-Rawi said.

With regards to the Bail Amendment and anti-gang legislation, the Attorney General said he is working on amendments in tandem, with the DPP, the criminal bar association and the Judiciary, among others.