The Tribune

By Natario McKenzie

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.neet

GOVERNMENT is aiming to be released from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG) process "at the earliest opportunity", Finance Minister Peter Turnquest said yesterday, noting the country had "carried some significant burdens" as a result of having to comply with ever-changing global standards.

Mr Turnquest, who was addressing the financial Intelligence Union (FIU) Public-Public Partnership Forum at Poinciana House, stated: "In this environment of ever-evolving global standards, the government has enacted a significant number of new pieces of legislation, or amended existing legislation, to ensure The Bahamas remained globally competitive. In some instances, these have totally transformed the way business is transacted in this country."

Mr Turnquest noted that since 1989, FATF has been one of the primary international bodies exercising oversight of the global financial sector, with a primary objective to lead anti-money laundering efforts, along with countering the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

"Today, The Bahamas' financial sector is not only being assessed by the FATF, but the FATF's standards are being used by other agencies, such as the European Union, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the United Nations, and others, who all assess our performance as a key player in the global financial system," said Mr Turnquest.

He further noted the FATF Mutual Evaluation of The Bahamas was conducted in late November and early December 2015 and the report itself, the Mutual Evaluation Report (MER), was released in July 2017.

The MER involved a comprehensive review of this nation's financial industry, with an assessment based on The Bahamas' compliance with the 40 FATF recommendations, and its effectiveness in implementing these recommendations. The Bahamas is now in the review process by FATF's International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG) and is being closely monitored by FATF assessors to determine the country's compliance with the 40 recommendations and six immediate outcomes.

"Since the release of the MER and our being placed in the ICRG process, The Bahamas has successfully had our compliance rating upgraded for a number of the recommendations and immediate outcomes but there is still more work to be done. We are optimistic that in the short order we will meet the requirements of those few remaining areas where we did not achieve the requisite standards. Our aim is to, at the earliest opportunity, be released from the ICRG process," said Mr Turnquest.

He noted that as the nation draws closer to meeting the requisite standards, the requirements change.

"As a small island state with many challenges, the financial cost and the cost of doing business in our jurisdiction cannot be understated. We have carried some significant burdens as a result of all these standards and regulations that we had to comply with," said Mr Turnquest.

He continued: "As we have said over and over in the international forums, we have to get to the point where there is a unified standard. That standard does not change as the circumstances change in terms of as jurisdictions meet the minimum standard the goal post moves again. We really have to find a way to have some certainty."