One day after the Financial Services Consultative Forum released its proposals for amendments to financial services laws, Minister of State for Finance James Smith told compliance officers from around the region that transparency, exchange of information and Know Your Customer [KYC] rules are crucial.
On Thursday, Mr. Smith said that it is also essential to maintain compliance with international standards while sharpening competitiveness. He also said that The Bahamas cannot adopt the tax policies of other countries to help grow its financial services industry.
“We can no longer rely on the tax policies of other countries, particularly the developed countries to provide the basis for our growth of the financial services industry,” he said “We must reform, restructure and if necessary re-tool our financial services industry from within.”
Mr. Smith said that it was also essential to expand the country’s technology-based services and to “upgrade our human resource pool.”
He also said that it was important to “fast-forward” the process for approving new products and services for use in the financial services sector.
Regional compliance professionals were focusing on developing strategies on the way forward at the first Annual Caribbean Compliance Conference on Thursday and Friday at the Atlantis Resort.
Vice President of the Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers (BACO) and Director of Compliance for First Caribbean International Bank Cheryl Bazard told the Bahama Journal that it was important for countries in the region to share their experiences in financial services.
“As offshore jurisdictions we are all faced with the same issues, the same threats and the same sanctions from the FATF and other organizations,” she said. “We want to come together look at all the issues and plan the next best step for the region.”
Next week, The Bahamas is expected to participate in the Second Global Forum of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Oslo, Norway.
The OECD is a grouping of world’s richest countries that are pressuring offshore tax jurisdictions like The Bahamas to eliminate what they call harmful tax practices.
Minister Smith says that issues like fair competition, equity in standards and timelines for OECD members and non-OECD member states.
There will also be a forum for achieving a level playing field and determining the consequences for countries that fail to adopt such standards.
By Julian Reid, The Bahama Journal
