Shadow Finance Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin has criticised Government for a reported scathing International Monetary Fund review of the Island's anti-money laundering regulations.

However, the findings of the IMF report for now remain classified and have not been seen by The Royal Gazette. A report in the Mid Ocean News last Friday claimed, amongst other things, that Bermuda has dropped below Panama in IMF compliance ratings as a result of the draft report which is said to have offered 150 recommendations after Bermuda was reported to have failed in eight out of nine regulatory areas.

The accuracy of the Mid Ocean News report is not known at this time as the draft IMF report is not a public document. The IMF has yet to respond to a Royal Gazette inquiry regarding the report and this newspaper has, as yet, been unable to locate an IMF rating list that shows Bermuda's standing against Panama or any other nations.

Giving no details of the failings supposedly contained in the report, Ms Gordon-Pamplin said: "Ms Cox (Finance Minister) must accept responsibility for the deficiencies cited by the IMF."