The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas was yesterday urged to tell Europe "enough is enough", with a former attorney general arguing it is wielding "blacklisting" as a tool to drive this nation out of financial services.

Alfred Sears QC, responding after it was revealed that the European Commission plans to include The Bahamas on a 12-strong blacklist of nations with weaknesses in their anti-financial crime defences, said it was resorting to a "protectionist" agenda at the very moment this nation is "fighting for its life" against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Telling Tribune Business that the commission, which acts as the 27-nation European Union's (EU) civil service, is "not coming with clean hands", Mr Sears said its continued blacklisting threats were equivalent to a hurricane or pandemic in terms of their impact on the Bahamian financial services industry.

"The problem is that the EU is not the police of the world," he told this newspaper. "If we need any evidence that the EU and its bodies will use every strategy available to them, including COVID-19, to advance their protectionist agenda, here it is now."

Mr Sears voiced shock that the European Commission would be "so opportunistic" to again threaten this country's second largest industry "at a time when we are faced with a probable economic fall-out equivalent to the Great Depression".

Noting that "The Bahamas is fighting for its life" against COVID-19, and the joint health and economic impact, the former attorney general said the European Commission's latest action meant this nation needed to "find the courage" to draw a line in the sand beyond which it cannot go.

"There needs to be the resolve, once and for all, to put anti-money laundering under an international convention," he told Tribune Business. "I'm calling on the Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas to tell the EU: Enough is enough.

"The most egregious money laundering has not been in The Bahamas. The most egregious money laundering uncovered has been in Europe and the United States. This has become like a hurricane, a pandemic. It's an existential threat, this protectionism by the EU.

"They're not coming with clean hands. They're cloaking protectionism under the guise of anti-money laundering. We see time and time again the selective enforcement of standards whereas we over-regulate in The Bahamas," Mr Sears continued.

"It's easier for a Bahamian to open a bank account in New York or Miami than it is in Nassau. It has undermined our competitive advantage and the ease of doing business. I believe that is part of the intent."

Mr Sears hit out after the Reuters news agency yesterday reported that The Bahamas was among 12 countries set to be named on a European Commission blacklist to be formally unveiled on Thursday (tomorrow).

Others set for inclusion, according to Reuters which was given an advance look at the relevant documents, include Panama, Barbados, Jamaica, Mauritius, Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua and Zimbabwe.

All were said to "pose significant threats to the financial system of the [EU}", and the 27-nation bloc's financial institutions are being called upon to apply greater scrutiny and due diligence to transactions involving The Bahamas, its businesses and residents, as well as those in the other nations.

Reuters frequently appears to be given advance notice of such EU moves - possibly as part of a strategy to unnerve the nations being targeted. The blacklisting, if it comes to fruition, will threaten to increase the time and costs involved in conducting business between The Bahamas and Europe, again undermining the country's competitiveness in those markets. Reputational risk is also involved.

While the impact on The Bahamas' vital correspondent banking relationships may not be as pronounced, given that most of this nation's international transactions clear through the US, a non-EU-member, the Commission's action will also cut across the recent changes The Bahamas made to its Investment Funds Act to secure that sector's access to European markets.