Topic Presentation:

2024 FATF evaluation Curaçao – The economic importance, business opportunities and threats

Description of Subject:

Cayman Island has been on the FATF “Grey List” for over a year now. Being on a grey list does
have real-world impacts on businesses in those jurisdictions. During the presentation Benno will
explain more about the FATF, the technical compliance with the 40+ Recommendations and the
focus on effectiveness, the FATF evaluation process, the National Risk Assessment process, the
observation period, the progress report timelines, and how the assessors and plenary meet and
decide which countries get put on the grey list. Benno will emphasize the importance of certain
recommendations and how to prepare as a country for this fourth worldwide evaluation round.
Benno will conclude with some observations as the Fifth Round commences in 2024, and the
coming years will be challenging again as the assessment process will require information, data,
and statistics over the past years.

Bio Mr. Benno van Leeuwen, Fraud & Compliance expert, Forensic Services Caribbean &
Compliance Services Caribbean

Mr. Benno van Leeuwen held a position at the Central Bank of the Netherlands Antilles and
later as a Financial Analyst for The Unusual Transactions Reporting Centre (now known as FIU
Curaçao) and he was the director of the FIU from 2004-2005. Mr. B. van Leeuwen followed
multiple courses in the field of the fight against money laundering and financial terrorism,
locally as well as abroad. He has been involved in organizing several training seminars and has
given lectures for financial institutions and compliance officers in the Dutch Caribbean, the
Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), and Egmont; of which organization he was also a
board member.
Since 2005 he is part of the Compliance Caribbean team and as currently the managing partner
of that organization, he is very active in providing compliance services to many (financial)
institutions in the Caribbean region, including outsourced compliance officer, training sessions,
setting up compliance frameworks, auditing compliance, etc. As a Certified Anti-Money
Laundering Specialist, he participated in several task groups whose purpose was to effectively

increase the fight against money laundering in the Dutch Caribbean and is organizing many
training sessions. Mr. Benno van Leeuwen is currently also the president of the Association of
Certified Fraud Examiners in the Dutch Caribbean.