The Ministry of Finance (Trinidad and Tobago) presented two inter-related Bills to the House of Representatives to strengthen the country’s anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and counter-proliferation financing framework ahead of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 5th Round on-site mutual evaluation in March 2026. The legislative package combines a wide set of amendments across existing statutes with a standalone regime for counter-proliferation financing and targeted financial sanctions implementation. The Miscellaneous Provisions (FATF Compliance) Bill, 2025 would amend 13 laws, including mandating registration of all express trusts with beneficial ownership disclosures (unregistered trusts would be null and void, with registration required within 14 days of creation and updates within 30 days), prohibiting nominee directors and expanding beneficial ownership disclosure obligations for companies and partnerships, and tightening registration and penalty frameworks for business names. It would expand corruption offences (including bribery of foreign public officials and embezzlement-related conduct), strengthen mutual legal assistance tools for freezing and confiscation, and modernise the Proceeds of Crime Act by widening definitions (including to virtual assets), enhancing confiscation and restraint powers, providing legal cover for special investigative techniques, and introducing a structured approach to administrative fines in financial obligations regulations. It would also strengthen counter-terrorism financing provisions (including targeted sanctions processes and investigative powers), support admissibility of evidence from controlled deliveries and undercover operations, expand the Financial Intelligence Unit of Trinidad and Tobago’s supervisory and enforcement toolkit (including registration/refusal/revocation powers and risk-based monitoring), and give the Board of Inland Revenue explicit investigative powers for tax-related offences. The Counter-Proliferation Financing Bill, 2025 would impose immediate reporting and suspicious activity reporting duties on financial institutions and listed businesses once notified of designated entities subject to proliferation-related freezing orders under the Economic Sanctions Act, alongside recordkeeping, compliance programme and confidentiality requirements. Supervisory roles would be split between the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, the Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Intelligence Unit of Trinidad and Tobago, with powers including risk-based monitoring and entry to premises (with warrant procedures specified where the FIU is the supervisory authority). The Bill sets criminal penalties up to TTD 5 million and seven years’ imprisonment (depending on the offence and mode of trial) and administrative monetary fines up to TTD 1.75 million, and would require the Attorney General to maintain lists of designated persons and entities; the Minister of Finance would have regulation-making powers. The commencement of the FATF compliance amendments would be fixed by Presidential proclamation.

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