The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Chairman Darron Cash criticised Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson yesterday for failing to publicly report the recommendations the Financial Action Task Force made about the government’s plans to regulate the webshop sector.

His statements came after Mrs Maynard-Gibson met members of the FATF in Paris, France, recently to discuss whether the proposed web shop regulations in the Gaming Bill would stand up to international scrutiny on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing guidelines. Mr Cash said the lack of information from the government on the meeting suggests the Christie administration might not have met the FATF’s standards.

Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe recently told The Tribune that the meeting went “very well”, with the task force giving recommendations to the Bahamas government for moving forward. However, neither Mr Wilchcombe nor Mrs Maynard-Gibson have given details of the recommendations or how the government will address concerns of local banks on the issue.

In view of this, said Mr Cash: “There is no question that this entire process has been handled rather abysmally. As much as the Bahamian people want the government to complete this process in an honourable manner and has been reasonable in giving latitude to them to do so, they appear to be failing at every turn. The attorney general went to meet with international agencies to discuss the process by which financial institutions could know that the new regime will meet important standards. “It’s disappointing that despite our desire for some serious effort on the part of the government to keep Bahamians informed as to how this major policy is being developed, they have failed to do so at every turn. It’s disappointing that after the attorney general went off to meet with international agencies, she has yet to give a meaningful report about what specific concerns were raised and what specific actions her government is taking to address those concerns. The absence of transparency seems to suggest the government may not be able to meet the standards outlined. If that’s the case, the Bahamian people should be made aware of this so we could make a decision on what our options need to be.”

Mr Cash suggested that too many ministers may be involved in the Gaming Bill issue with no one taking charge of the matter.

“This process is plagued by the fact that there are far too many ministers involved in setting policy on a single issue and no one seems to be in command of the process and it shows,” he said. “It is important to note that the government has to this point failed to satisfy the Bahamian people that they have seriously considered the concerns that have been raised by the Canadian banks about the extent to which the Canadian banks would be able to accommodate the process from online gaming and so on and still satisfy the requirements from their parent companies. The government’s approach to addressing this has been flippant and dismissive without addressing the underlying concerns. The present regime they are proposing may not adequately address money laundering concerns.”

Last month RBC Bahamas confirmed that it was not allowed to do business with web shops regardless of their regulatory status given the sector’s “high risks” and international policy restrictions.

Mr Cash added that the issue highlights poor leadership from Prime Minister Perry Christie.

He also criticised the government for not yet bringing value added tax (VAT) legislation to Parliament even though the new tax is set to start on January 1, 2015.

“There is no VAT legislation because it has gotten no focused attention from the PM,” he said. “There has been no focus on addressing the gaming issue as it pertains to legalisation and registration of webshops. While Obie Wilchcombe and (Maynard-Gibson) may be important, these are fundamentally matters that require leadership of the prime minister and minster of finance. Yet he continues to distract himself with less significant matters.”