JAMAICA Law and Practice Contributed by: M. Georgia Gibson Henlin CD and KC, Henlin Gibson Henlin
2.4 Reporting The designated authority under both pieces of legis - lation (POCA and TPA) refers to the Chief Technical Director of the FID of the Finance Ministry to whom reports are made. TPA The following entities have a duty to report to the FID in different circumstances: • foreign companies concerned in the business of banking, securities, insurance, investment advice or trusts; • financial institutions; and • any entity designated by the Minister as applicable. The circumstances under which these entities must submit a report include the following. • Listed Entity Report (Section 15) – entities are obli - gated to declare whether they are in possession or control of property which is owned or controlled by a listed entity (ie, a person/entity designated as being a terrorist entity by the UNSC). The reports must be done in accordance with the legislation and done once in every four-calendar month, or when requested by the FID. • Suspicious Transaction Reports (Section 16) – enti - ties must report: (a) any transaction which is complex, unusually large, or has an unusual pattern that has no apparent economic/visibly lawful purpose; and/ or (b) any transaction (completed or not) which is suspected or has reasonable cause to suspect the involvement of property connected with a terrorism offence, or a listed entity/terrorist group. • Information About Terrorism Offence Report (Sec - tion 13) – a duty is imposed on any person, save and except attorneys-at-law in regard to legal professional privilege, to report to a constable any information obtained via their trade, profession or employment which causes them to reasonably believe another has committed a terrorism offence.
• are not correctly trained by their employer to act as required. TPA – Section 13 Persons liable for failing to disclose information about a terrorist offence within a reasonably practicable time will have a defence if proven that they: • had a reasonable excuse for not making the disclo - sure; • disclosed the information in accordance with the established procedure at their place of employ - ment; or • are an attorney-at-law and the information is pro - tected by legal privilege. 2.2.6 “Strict Liability” Some of the sanctions in Jamaica do not operate on the basis of strict liability. For instance, even those indirectly committed must be done by the offender knowingly or wilfully. However, there are a few offenc - es that can be interpreted as falling under the category of strict liability though not expressed in the legisla - tion. This is seen under Section 15 of the TPA, where any person who fails to make a report on certain prop - erty owned or controlled, as required, is liable save and except where a reasonable excuse is given for not doing so. There is no reference to mental capacity, hence unlike other sections, having the intention to make the report would not serve as a defence. 2.3 Licensing 2.3.1 Derogation It is not possible to licence derogation from sanctions regulations in Jamaica. 2.3.2 Provision of Legal Services There is no general licence for the provision of legal services to designated persons in Jamaica. Instead, attorneys are protected by the doctrine of legal privi - lege under both POCA and TPA. POCA also expresses under Section 93 that an attorney-at-law will not be held liable for engaging in money laundering where they receive bona fide fees for legal representation of a client.
116 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook