The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmonsl@tribunemedia.net

The Securities Commission has detected 142 breaches committed by its capital markets, investment fund and corporate services provider licensees as a result of on-site inspections conducted in 2025, it was revealed yesterday.

Megan Knowles, a senior manager at the Securities Commission, said the regulator has completed 87 on-site inspections for the year-to-date and issued 79 official reports in addition to recording the supervisory breaches.

Speaking at the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) Accountant’s Week, Ms Knowles said the top deficiencies noted during the conduct of on-site examinations include a number of issues related to International Obligations (Economic and Ancillary Measures) Act filings and failings with the administrative filing of the Anti-Terrorism Act statement.

She also identified other issues including gaps in training, weaknesses in the risk assessment framework and risk rating processes, as well as breaches in customer verification and ongoing monitoring.

“An overview of our on-site inspection and examinations work for the year to-date: We have completed 87 examinations, issued a total of 79 reports and recorded 142 breaches,” said Ms Knowles.

“The top on-site deficiencies noted during the conduct of on-site examinations are as follows. We have seen a a number of issues in relation to the IOEAMA filings. We have also identified deficiencies with the administrative filing of the Anti-Terrorism Act statement, where firms are required to confirm that they do not hold any terrorist property.

“Additionally, we have observed deficiencies in training, weaknesses in the risk assessment framework and risk rating processes, as well as breaches in customer verification and ongoing monitoring. For 2026, the examination priorities will focus on money lending activity, KYC (know your customer) identification and CRS (common reporting standard).”

Le’Annka Rigby, assistant manager for the actuarial and financial analytics unit at the Insurance Commission of the Bahamas, said 90 percent of its licensees are now compliant with international financial reporting standard (IFRS) 17, which makes The Bahamas one of only eight jurisdictions leading in this area.

At the same time, she acknowledged a problem with timeliness, highlighting that external auditors sometimes take too long to submit reports to the Commission - a practice that can put auditors and licensees at risk of sanctions or fines.

“We have been greatly pleased with what has been submitted by the accountants in this country, as external auditors to the Commission on behalf of our licensees. Roughly about 90 percent, a little more than 90 percent, of our licensees are now compliant with IFRS 17, and we are leading in the jurisdiction being one of only eight,” said Ms Rigby.

“The timeliness definitely can be improved. It remains a pain point, specifically for the external auditors of our licensees, who perhaps feel as though the accountants are taking too long to submit to the regulatory agency, thereby putting them in a position of potential sanctions and fines.”

Ms Rigby said the Insurance Commission will enforce stricter submission deadlines in 2026. In the past, multiple extensions were granted to both licensees and auditors for various reasons, but going forward, these leniencies will no longer be offered.

“The timelines in 2026 for the 2025 financial statements will not be as lenient. We would have offered multiple extensions, both to the licensees and the auditors, for various reasons. However, that will not be the case in 2026,” said Ms Rigby.

She added that the Insurance Commission is considering adding a line in the audited financial statements to make it easier to reconcile premium taxes.

“We are discussing a plausible reason for adding a line in the audited financial statements to assist us with the premium tax reconciliation. As you know, our licensees report to us quarterly and then follow up with the audited financial statements. In the audited financial statements, they do not explicitly state the premiums collected, which would allow us to reconcile the premium taxes that are either owed to the Commission or recorded as a credit on our books,” said Ms Rigby.