The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Attorney General yesterday signalled that “the cost of not being a fighter” in complying with global anti-financial crime standards outweighs “the burden” imposed on small jurisdictions such as The Bahamas in meeting these benchmarks.

Ryan Pinder KC, the attorney general, addressing the Central Bank of The Bahamas’ seventh annual anti-money laundering research conference, said the cost of falling foul of global standard-setters was brought home to this nation during the two years that it languished on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) so-called ‘grey list’.

This, he added, sparked a foreign direct investment (FDI) slowdown and subjected financial transactions involving The Bahamas to greater scrutiny, incurring greater delays and costs that impacted the country’s financial services sector.

“As a country, we have invested heavily in legislative reform, institutional frameworks, technology and human capital to keep pace with the evolving standards,” Mr Pinder said.

“We have invested in the compliance team at the Office of the Attorney General, having almost doubled its size since I became Attorney General a little over four years ago.  We have invested in digital platforms, training and industry support, costing millions of dollars, all at the expense of the Bahamian people….

“The investment we have made, and commitment we have reinforced, raises an important and often uncomfortable question: Is the burden placed on small developing states such as The Bahamas too heavy? Some will argue that it is. But what is the cost of not being a fighter in this arena? The answer is clear: denial of access to much-needed financial delivery channels and markets.

“The Bahamas experienced this first-hand during its placement on the FATF ‘grey list’ from October 2018 to December 2020, when foreign direct investment slowed and cross-border financial transactions faced increased scrutiny, delays and costs,” Mr Pinder added. 

“At this conference I have called for an empirical study on the cost benefit analysis of compliance to countries like mine, as compared to larger more developed FATF and OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development) members. Maybe we will see this on the agenda next year.”

The Bahamas is now preparing for its fifth-round mutual evaluation by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), the FATF’s regional affiliate, to assess its compliance with the latter’s 40 “recommendations” or standards for combating money laundering and other forms of financial crime. The CFATF teams visit to The Bahamas will take place in October 2026.

“This year will be a crucial year for the financial services sector as The Bahamas makes preparation for the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) fifth round mutual evaluation exercise. The actual on-site visit is scheduled for 19-30 October, 2026,” the Central Bank said in its latest quarterly update to licensees.

Mr Pinder said yesterday: “Eleven public sector agencies are actively engaged in these preparations, as The Bahamas works to maintain its ‘40 for 40’ ratings of compliant and largely compliant with the FATF’s ‘40 Recommendations’. At the time we obtained ‘40 for 40’ status we were only the sixth country in the world, and only the second in our hemisphere, to achieve the momentous standard. 

“We must ensure this ranking is maintained, and thus our public sector agencies have increased investments in human resources, technical systems and training programmes to strengthen institutional capacity and effectiveness. Over the past five to seven years, The Bahamas has undertaken a comprehensive overhaul of its legislative, regulatory, supervisory and enforcement frameworks.

“National risk assessments for money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing have been completed. In addition, the 2021 National Strategy has been updated to cover the period 2023 to 2028,” he added.

“While we remain hopeful that our preparations will result in a successful mutual evaluation outcome, we recognise that challenges in complying with evolving international financial crime standards will persist. Nevertheless, we are a resilient people and remain committed to being a strong and co-operative partner in the global fight against financial crime.”

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