By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
The Central Bank of the Bahamas has expressed concerns over “a higher volume” of rejected licence fee payments by the banks and trust companies it regulates, due to “shortfalls” in some sums paid.
The regulator, in its March letter to the estimated 260 institutions that it regulates, said its examinations of nine licensees who had outsourced back office functions had also found “compliance gaps” related to corporate governance and anti-money laundering defences.
Noting that licence fees became due at the start of the year, Abhilash Bhachech, inspector of banks and trust companies, said the Central Bank had rejected some payments because they were not accompanied by the ‘licence codes’ on the original fee invoice.
“In this recent exercise, shortfalls in amounts paid and/or the omission of licence codes have resulted in a higher volume of rejected licence fee payments,” Mr Bhachech noted.
His letter also referred to the examination of the nine Central Bank ‘outsourcing’ licensees, which was designed to ensure they were complying with its guidelines for bank and trust company ‘minimum physical presence requirements’.
The examinations, which took place between June 2 and October 10 last year, focused on records and record keeping; governance and management arrangements; and the quality of the premises and facilities.
“The findings were to inform us of the control environments in place for the management and oversight of these functions,” Mr Bhachech wrote.
“Overall, the examination findings indicated no major deficiencies relative to the governance of the outsourced functions on the part of licensees.
“However, compliance gaps were observed in the areas of engagement by the non-executive director, due diligence (Know Your Customer/anti-money laundering) documentation practices and the ability to monitor suspicious transactions.
“Our supervisory outcomes and required mitigation measures have been communicated to the respective licensees, and progress on remedial actions now subject to our monitoring regime.”
Comments
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 1 month ago
Mr. Bhachech would better spend his time at Bank of The Bahamas (BoB) ensuring that the corrupt lending practices at that bank involving politically-connected borrowers have indeed come to end. Already under Mr. Bhachech's watch as Supervisor of Banks and Trust Companies, BoB's corrupt lending practices have caused National Insurance contributors and other taxpayers of the Bahamas millions and millions of dollars more than the outstanding bank license fees that Mr. Bhachech seems so eager to collect for his task masters. We claim to be a country with so much international banking expertise, yet it seems we can never find an indigenous Bahamian to fill the regulatory position that Mr. Bhachech currently holds within the Central Bank of The Bahamas. It would seem our politicians fear that an indigenous Bahamian would be lacking in the one trait they desire above all else: loyal subservience.
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