JAMAICA Law and Practice Contributed by: M. Georgia Gibson Henlin CD and KC, Henlin Gibson Henlin
2. Overview of Regulatory Field 2.1 Primary Regulators The primary regulators for sanctions activities in Jamaica are: • Supervisory Authority – Bank of Jamaica; • Designated Authority – The Financial Investigations Division; and • Competent Authority – The General Legal Council; (a) Public Accountancy Board for accountants; (b) General Legal Council (GLC) for attorneys; (c) Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission for the gaming sector; (d) Casino Gaming Commission for casinos; and (e) Real Estate Board for real estate dealers. 2.2 Enforcement 2.2.1 Enforcement Responsibilities Enforcement and investigative orders can be made by a judge. These include forfeiture orders, pecuni - ary penalty orders, restraint orders, disclosure orders, search and seizure warrants, customer information orders and account monitoring orders. However, these orders would be enforced by other governing bodies usually based on the stipulations in the Act. The FID is typically responsible for the enforcement of sanctions as the designated authority under both main pieces of legislation (POCA and TPA). Nonethe - less, other authorities such as competent authorities or authorised officers are also responsible for the enforcement of different sanctions. POCA Whereas Section 91 (g) defines the competent author - ity as being the authority delegated by the Minister to monitor compliance and issue guidelines to busi - nesses in the regulated sector, in practice it entails a number of different bodies. For instance, apart from the FSC and BOJ, there are also the: • Public Accountancy Board for accountants; • General Legal Council (GLC) for attorneys; • Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission for the gaming sector; • Casino Gaming Commission for casinos; and • Real Estate Board for real estate dealers.
rated association or organisation. Whereas a financial institution includes: • a bank licensed under the Banking Act; • a financial institution licensed under the Financial Institutions Act; • a building society registered under the Building Societies Act; • a society registered under the Co-Operative Socie - ties Act and which carries on credit union business; • an insurance company registered under the Insur - ance Act; • a person licensed under the Bank of Jamaica Act to operate an exchange bureau; • a person licensed under the Securities Act as a dealer or investment adviser; • money transfer and remittance agents and agen - cies; and • any other person declared by the Minister. 1.4.3 Domestic and/or Supranational Measures Sanctions are imposed at the domestic and the inter - national level. Locally, Jamaica’s main legislation includes POCA and the TPA, however, sanctions are implemented through other statues and regulations to have an effective sanction regime. Some of these include: • the Financial Investigations Division Act (2010); • the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering Preven - tion) Regulations (2007) – amended 2013, 2016 and 2019; • the Terrorism Prevention (Reporting Entities) Regu - To ensure compliance with the UN’s sanctions passed through resolutions, Jamaica has implemented the United Nations Security Council Resolutions Imple - mentation Act (2013). The government of Jamaica has also codified the UNSC’s designation of listed entities sanction under Section 14 of the TPA by giving authority to the Direc - tor of Public Prosecution of Jamaica to apply for an entity to be treated as such, if they have been listed by the UNSC. lations, 2010 – amended 2019; and • the Banking Services Act (2014).
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