The Bahamas must continue to demonstrate efforts aimed at the effective implementation of international AML/CFT standards as part of its effort to avoid correspondent banking de-risking according to John Rolle, Governor of the Central Bank of the Bahamas, at a briefing for CEOs of BFSB member firms.
The Governor said de-risking is an issue of significant focus for the Central Bank to help safeguard the financial relationships of banking operations in The Bahamas. He said institutions can help take de-risking matters into their own hands by employing technical tools to limit information challenges, reducing transparency issues and the burden of compliance with Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures. “Industry should actively engage the Central Bank on matters relating to correspondent banking. This will assist in generating detailed analysis of the phenomenon and inform effective decision making”, he said.
He added, “Licensees must ensure that their operations and controls adhere to a risk-based approach; that is, a zero tolerance approach for failure to detect money laundering.”
Governor Rolle noted that the jurisdiction and the Central Bank also must play active roles. “We need to seek out harmonization to eliminate uneven standards of AML/CFT effectiveness across Caribbean countries." He added that The Bahamas needs to give continued and increasing visibility to its commitment to effective international cooperation.