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The Caribbean has been the focus of a lot of attention over the last year with respect to money laundering. This paper will firstly examine the main international initiatives affecting money laundering in the Caribbean countries. In the second part of the paper there will be a review of the regional efforts that have been taken by Caribbean countries to address the problem of money laundering.

Outlines laws in force before newly passed legislation; the cornerstone was the Confidentiality Act 1996, whose provision of confidentiality was noticed by the Financial Action Task Force when it issued its list of Non‐cooperative Countries and Territories in 2000. Summarises the new legislation such as the Proceeds of Crime and Money Laundering (Prevention) Act 2001 and the Proceeds of Crime and Money Laundering (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2002. Moves on to the work of the Financial Intelligence Unit, the International Banks (Amendment) Act 2002, the International Business Companies (Amendment) Act 2002, the International Trusts (Amendment) Act 2002, and the Exchange of Information Act 2002.

Much has been written recently about the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and more specifically, the report of 22nd June, 2000, wherein a number of countries and territories were identified by the FATF as being non‐cooperative in the fight against money laundering. Also in the same month, the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) published a report, listing 35 jurisdictions considered to be operating harmful tax regimes. Additional reports have been produced by a number of other world organisations, and a host of publications have carried reports and articles in which countries have been named, and effectively shamed in this respect. Many of those named countries happen to be situated within the Caribbean.