The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A former Cabinet minister yesterday said the private sector “should be thrilled that the Government has institutionalised” how it will be consulted on the future evolution of the digital assets industry.

Allyson Maynard-Gibson QC, ex-attorney general and minister of financial services and investments, told the Crypto Bahamas conference that the Davis administration’s policy ‘white paper’ on its objectives for the sector’s development provide a road map for companies, investors and participants to give feedback at every step of the process.

Mrs Maynard-Gibson, who is the attorney for FTX Digital Markets, the world’s second-largest crypto currency exchange that has just broken ground on its Bahamas headquarters, said: “On the white paper, I think the private sector should be very thrilled that the Government has actually institutionalised the means by which the private sector would be consulted, and would constantly get feedback, as to what is happening in the sector, what needs to be changed, what needs to be tweaked.

“It’s a very fast moving sector, and the Government has actually institutionalised the means by which the private sector can formally give feedback.” Mrs Maynard-Gibson also pointed to the Digital Advisory Panel, featuring private sector representatives, that will be created to provide advice and recommendations on the industry’s growth to a policy committee headed by the Prime Minister.

“So there are two means the Government has institutionalised for the private sector to feed it, making sure that The Bahamas stays on the cutting edge,” she said. Meanwhile, a current Cabinet minister said the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges (DARE) Act is one of the “key reasons” that attracted FTX to The Bahamas

Senator Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, said: “One of the key points of attractiveness of The Bahamas is, number one, we have a long-standing reputation as a well-regulated jurisdiction that is compliant and has always sought to be compliant with global, financial, prudential and regulatory standards.

“And we are very proud of our Central Bank to have pioneered the first digital currency, and we’re very proud of our Securities Commission to have shepherded through the realisation the DARE Act that was cited by FTX as one of the key reasons they came here because of our regulation.”

Promoting digital assets policy ‘white paper’, Mr Halkitis added: “The key points for discussion, and the key objectives of the white paper, are to explore new opportunities within the digital asset space, to encourage innovation and FinTech and other areas of digital assets.

“To improve the attractiveness of The Bahamas as a destination for other companies involved in the digital asset space, we want to encourage the building of capacity amongst our regulators, the Central Bank and the Securities Commisison, in improving their level of regulation.

“We also want to promote the development of skills and training amongst the population, amongst our professionals, so that they can easily transition from other segments of the financial services industry into the digital asset space,” the minister added.

“And, connected to that, is we want to explore any linkages between what we call the traditional financial services and digital assets, FinTech and crypto. So the idea is to create a discussion. We recognise that we are leading jurisdiction in terms of regulation and attractiveness; we want to maintain that position. And we believe that we do so by encouraging discussion.”