The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I have recently learned of another small bank that, without being charged with any offence, chose to shut down facing the expense of complying with the growing complexity of Bahamian laws and rules compelled by foreign authorities like the EU and OECD. The last straw was having to hire a “compliance” officer who had no role in handling actual banking functions.

In over 30 years of financial business here I have personally assisted on three cases of local banks or service companies reporting various questionable events. None of them was initiated by our Financial Intelligence Unit or other local authorities, rather the matters were discovered by foreign agencies.

I have never heard of specific instances of money laundering, bribery, corruption, terrorism, drug movements, human trafficking, or weapons dealing that our law enforcement people were able to pin on Bahamian banks. If there were any such, they should be publicized, to show that the compliance and reporting measures have tangible results rather than being money down the drain.

I suggest that every proposed new regulatory statute and regulation carry a “Financial Impact Statement” comparing its expected utility to its cost in money, compliance, and bureaucratic red-tape.

RICHARD COULSON

Nassau,

January 24, 2019