Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, revealed on Wednesday that the Financial Investigations Division (FID) ran into a roadblock when it sought to obtain information overseas in relation to alternative investment schemes operating in Jamaica.

Shaw said that without the passage of the Financial Investigations Division bill, the FID would not be able to access certain information required from international bodies to fight financial and other related crimes.

"Regarding the alternative investment schemes, the Financial Investigations Division came upon a roadblock because the legislation is not yet passed," he told colleagues on Wednesday during a sitting of a joint select committee of Parliament set up to deliberate on the legislation.

Call for alacrity

Shaw said the committee would have to step up the pace of its deliberations on the proposed law so that the measure could be sent to the House of Representatives for debate and passage.

He noted that Jamaica was obliged by international convention to have the bill promulgated into law speedily in line with the Proceeds of Crime Act and the international regulatory framework governing acts of terrorism.

Meanwhile, Shaw, who chairs the committee, has invited members of the public and institutions to make written submissions to Parliament on the proposed law.

Submissions will be accepted over the next two weeks and interested stakeholders can get copies of the bill from Parliament at Duke Street in Kingston.

"We are issuing a formal invitation: Review the bill, make written submissions and appear before the committee. We'll be happy to accommodate them," he said.