Professor Shazeeda Ali delivered a lecture on the misuse of legal entities in financial crime last week as part of the Cayman Islands’ preparations for an upcoming international evaluation of its anti-money laundering systems.
The session, held August 29, focused on how legal persons and arrangements can be exploited in illicit activity and the safeguards authorities must apply to prevent abuse. Local law enforcement, supervisory bodies and other authorities attended as part of the islands’ Legal Persons and Arrangements Risk Assessment, coordinated by the Office for Strategic Action on Illicit Finance (OSAIF).
The assessment will feed into the 2027 Caribbean Financial Action Task Force review of Cayman’s framework for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing. Duwayne Lawrence, OSAIF’s head of regulatory policy and legislation, said in a press release the lecture was key to building “operational understanding among competent authorities” and to designing proportionate safeguards against misuse.
Ali, a noted academic in financial crime and regulation, has published extensively on money laundering and corporate misconduct. Her books include Money Laundering Control in the Caribbean and Proceeds of Crime Act: Taking the Profit out of Crime.
