The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Financial Services Board’s (BFSB) chief executive yesterday said the Bahamas had been “fortunate” in that the 1.3 million files ‘leaked’ from its Companies Registry were already public documents.

Tanya McCartney, referring to the so-called ‘Bahamas papers’ leak, said the already-public nature of the information disclosed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) mitigated any negative impact for this nation and its financial services industry.

Ms McCartney, addressing a one-day Cyber Defense and Business Continuity workshop hosted by the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), said recent global events have emphasised the importance of personal privacy and data protection.

“In promoting the Bahamas as a responsible international financial centre (IFC), we extol the virtues of why people should choose to be here in the Bahamas. Key to this is personal privacy and the advanced infrastructure – both physical and technological - that we offer in the Bahamas,” said Ms McCartney

“Recent global events have emphasised the importance of personal privacy and data protection. We need only look at the current events influencing the US presidential elections, the unauthorised access to the client information of a firm in Panama, and the recent publication of data from our Registrar General’s Department.”

A free online database, created from 1.3 million files from the Bahamas’ corporate registry, was released by the ICIJ in September, giving the names of directors and some shareholders for more than 175,000 Bahamian-domiciled companies.

The disclosure came five months after the Bahamian financial services sector was dragged into the spotlight as a so-called tax haven’ following the infamous ‘Panama Papers’ release.

“Fortunately, in the case of our registry, this information was publicly available, thereby mitigating any adverse impact of the disclosure,” said Ms McCartney.

   She added that good business practice, and the need to comply with the law, requires that cyber security measures are put in place.

“This is especially important for the financial services sector, where persons expect, and the law requires, data confidentiality,” Ms McCartney said.

“The reality is that most of the recent and far-reaching breaches have been as a result of third-party relationships with vendors. Ultimately, breaches in cyber security can have implications for our reputation as a responsible financial centre.”