Opposition Senator Vishnu Dhanpaul called on the government to put the necessary measures in place to implement the operationalisation of the Miscellaneous Provisions (FATF Compliance) Bill, 2025 and the Counter-Proliferation Financing Bill, 2025, to ensure that TT was found to be in compliance when the mutual evaluation report (MER) for 2026 is conducted.

Speaking in the Senate on September 26, Dhanpaul said the bills were complex in nature. He said while the objectives laid out in the bills made sense, the fifth round evaluation would be about measured speed and effectiveness, not just textural coverage.

“If we want these clauses to count in any assessment, we should legislate service level expectations through some agreed time frames. In addition, we should publish annual legal assistance statistics, requests received or sent, average turnaround, orders obtained and values confiscated. This strategy turns aspiration into critical audit evidence under immediate outcomes and international co-operation. These are precisely the kind of rapid, constructive and effective outputs expected by FATF under their recommendations.”