The Tribune

The Securities Commission of The Bahamas told financial and corporate service providers about its progress in overhauling the legislation governing their sector at a briefing recently.

The briefing was held at the British Colonial Hilton on 8 August and attracted over 120 representatives of financial and corporate services firms. Executive director Christina Rolle said that the commission, the industry and various international standards setters have observed several critical issues and regulatory gaps in the legislation which needed to be addressed.

"Some of these gaps include weaknesses in the enforcement structure of the legislation, lack of clarity around the consequences for non-payment of annual fees as well as inadequate definition of the specific activities that fall within the scope of this legislation," Rolle said.

She said The Bahamas is facing increasing pressures from the international community to ensure proper supervision of all forms of non-banking financial service activities and must double-down on its efforts in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance K Peter Turnquest said the jurisdiction must have a reputation for compliance with international best practices and spoke to the importance of the Government, regulators, and businesses working together for a pragmatic and sensible approach to doing business in the jurisdiction.

Saying that transparency was the "order of the day", Minister Turnquest said financial and corporate service providers must ensure they comply with their responsibilities regarding maintaining reliable accounting records.

"As financial and corporate service providers, you must ensure that you meet your obligation to maintain accounting records as required under relevant legislation, both with respect to your own business and any [International Business Company] or Exempted Limited Partnership where you provide corporate or administrative services," he said. "The eyes of the world are on us, and we should expect that our access to beneficial owner information and reliable accounting records will be tested."

Managers of the commission's supervisory departments brought updates regarding the licensing and approvals process, and provided cautions and reminders to registrants stemming from the supervisor's oversight of the sector. Wilfred Bain, enforcement officer, made a special presentation on registrants' responsibilities for obtaining and documenting beneficial ownership information for various types of legal persons and arrangements.

The draft financial and corporate services providers legislation was issued on July 20 for public consultation and the commission is asking comments by September 1. The draft legislation includes the Financial and Corporate Services Providers Bill, 2017, the Money Lenders' Rules, and the Fees Rules. The documents, including instructions for providing comments, are on the Commission's website at www.scb.gov.bs.