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.