Real Estate Bill complete, for circulation this week

The drafting of Guyana first-of-its-kind Real Estate Bill is complete, the country’s Attorney General, Anil Nandlall confirmed on Tuesday.

Nandlall reaffirmed the government’s commitment to a consultative process and said the draft legislation will be circulated to stakeholders in the coming days for their input before the final Bill makes it ways to Parliament.

“Consultation is an important part of governance and of our legislative agenda,” the AG said during his Tuesday night ‘Issues in the News’ Commentary on his Facebook page.

The government had long been in talks with local real estate agents who last June formed the Realtor Association of Guyana, bringing together major players in the country’s real estate industry.

Real estate legislation is an important requirement under Guyana’s anti money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism structure and remans largely unregulated.

Nandlall also reminded viewers that Guyana is scheduled to undergo mutual assessment in September by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).

Guyana is a member of CFATF and the assessment is routine to look at the implementation of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) measures in Guyana.

Guyana’s deficiency flowing from the absence of legislation governing real estate transactions has been flagged in the past.

“The Real Estate Bill is now complete in draft and we will continue to consult with stakeholders on the draft and then it will move to Cabinet for onward transmission to Parliament,” Nandlall said.

Nandlall himself had previously criticized the absence of real estate legislation and said it was needed now more than ever in keeping with the country’s development trajectory.