The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor A GOVERNMENT minister last night said the Ingraham administration "was not aware of any international concerns" relating to the Bahamian financial services industry, after reports surfaced that this nation had been placed on a 'so-called' watch list by the Financial Stability Board (FSB). Zhivargo Laing, minister of state for finance, told Tribune Business that the Government was itself trying to find out what the Barbados finance minister, Chris Sinckler, was referring to when he told that country's media that the Bahamas, together with their nation, had been placed by the FSB on a list "for examination and watch". Although still unclear, Mr Laing said he suspected the Barbadian finance minister was referring to the FSB's November 2011 listing of Caribbean countries that has yet to undergo the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP). This involves a rigorous examination of the financial services industry's regulatory and supervisory structure, but Mr Laing said the Bahamas' FSAP review by the IMF had already been scheduled for June 2012. Emphasising that there was no cause for panic in the Bahamian financial services industry, or associated sectors, Mr Laing told Tribune Business: "There's nothing in respect of our financial services sector, or financial and economic circumstances, that we are aware of that is causing any concern internationally. "We have no idea what he's talking about at the moment. We are trying to find out ourselves. Last year, in November, the FSB indicated those countries in the Caribbean that have not taken the FSAP assessment with the IMF. "We've already scheduled ours for June 2012. We suspect that's what it is. It's not a warning. It's just an indication these are the countries that have outstanding FSAP's to do. We have been working with the IMF for months for the FSAP coming up in June." Barbadian media yesterday reported Mr Sinckler as revealing that Barbados and the Bahamas had been placed on a 'watch list' by the FSB. "The Financial Stability Board, an offshoot of the G-20 process for the regulation and examination of financial centres, has put Barbados and the Bahamas on their list of countries for examination and for watch, even though we only control less than 1 per cent of the resources flowing through in terms of the global financial architecture and structure," the Finance Minister was quoted as saying. The Bahamas, and its financial services industry, can be forgiven for feeling uneasy, though, given that the FSB - in its former guise as the Financial Stability Forum (FSF) - back in 2000 placed this nation among the group of nations with the weakest regulatory and supervisory standards, posing a potential threat to global financial stability. This, together with the FATF and OECD initiatives, led to a radical restructuring and reform of the Bahamian financial services' legislative regime. "We are not aware of ourselves being put on any negative listing which would cause us concern," Mr Laing reiterated. "We are aware of the November listing of countries with outstanding FSAPs. We are making contact with the FSB." The minister pointed out that the FSB had published no other list, or made no public announcement that it had done so, something Mr Laing described as normal protocol in the circumstances. A search of the FSB's website by Tribune Business produced no such list, either, and Mr Laing said Barbados's issues were "not a concern of the Bahamas". The FSB's role is to co-ordinate the work of national financial services regulators and standard-setting bodies at an international level.