The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE attorney general yesterday urged the Bahamian financial services industry to “do what you have to do” over the summer to ensure this nation swiftly escapes the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) monitoring list.

Carl Bethel QC, who was addressing an anti-financial crime conference organised by Bahamian financial services regulators, particularly stressed the need for providers to properly implement the Register of Beneficial Ownership Act’s provisions by repeating this request several times.

He added that the Attorney General’s Office has obtained the necessary software to enact the system, with all the necessary licences obtained.

“I am calling on each and everyone of you, when called upon, to fully comply and add all required information into the system,” Mr Bethel said. “We cannot survive as a jurisdiction on the same old rules. We must adapt. This is the best compromise.

“For those who may have expressed some concern about the way it is being stored, the FATF is very happy with this system and they have so expressed. Let us press on towards the mark. Let us get the job done. It has to be done by September 2019, because in October 2019, I want to go to the FATF with a straight face and say we have done it, it is finished and it’s only a question of being able to track compliance, get us off this ICRG (International Country Risk Guide) if that should be accomplished.”

Mr Bethel added: “If we are able to do the necessary and get it done, and have a functional beneficial ownership registry among all the other things that need to be finalised, this will take us very close to the mark.

“The FATF will say: ‘We think The Bahamas has made significant progress for us to come to The Bahamas for an on-site visit’. That would happen sometime between October, November December, or early January at the latest. We have reached the stage, that in my view, puts us at a higher level of overall completion and compliance. We want to get the commitment for an on-site in October.”

Mr Bethel said such a visit will be a key step towards exiting the FATF’s monitoring list. “Once we get that on-site visit we will be out if this whole ICRG process. It’s as simple as that and, quite frankly, we know the difficulties that beset all of us in this process.

“Let’s do what we have to do to get out if it. I urge full compliance with all of the rigours of everything that has to be done over the next few months, and put ourselves in a position to remove any slur or stain against this jurisdiction.”

The Register of Beneficial Ownership Bill 2018, which was passed in the House of Assembly last December, mandates the creation and maintenance establish of an electronic database containing beneficial ownership details for all corporate and legal entities registered in The Bahamas.

It only permits a search of this database by a “designated person”, upon the request of an “authority” listed in the Bill. These authorities include the Attorney General’s Office, the Financial Intelligence Unit and the financial services industry regulators.

As a result the beneficial ownership registry is not accessible to members of the general public. Many in the financial services industry, though, have expressed reservations about creating a central beneficial ownership database for fears that it could be compromised by hacking and leaks, resulting in breaches of legitimate client privacy and a resulting loss of business.

As a result, the Government was giving consideration to creating a system that interfaced with all financial services providers so it could still access ownership details on all entities it acts as registered office for.

The Bahamas is currently on the FATF’s monitoring list as one of 12 nations identified as having deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter terror financing defenses. Mr Bethel told Tribune Business on Monday that this nation will only be considered for removal once it submits its “action plan”, which is due in September 2019.

That will then be assessed at the FATF’s next meeting in October, with the Government hoping for an on-site visit to determine whether the “action plan” is being implemented before year-end. If all goes well, the earliest that The Bahamas is likely to escape is at the FATF’s February 2020 conference.