FATF compliance possible before year’s end, notes financial services director

Director of Financial Services Deborah Watson said yesterday that The Bahamas is in a very good position to be fully compliant with the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) before the end of the year.

Earlier this month, The Bahamas was again added to the European Union’s (EU) blacklist of countries with strategic deficiencies in anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) standards, after failing to complete and on-site assessment with the FATF – the body which recommends countries to be blacklisted – earlier this year. This despite meeting at least 30 of the 40 FATF requirements.

Watson said the Ministry of Financial Services has been working long and very hard over the years to ensure that The Bahamas is seen as a country that has the highest standard of cooperation and transparency.

“Along with our work with industry stakeholders, regulatory bodies and policy makers across the ministries have been doing a gargantuan job in ensuring that we meet those standards. The work of the Identified Risk Framework Steering Committee has been absolutely outstanding. And I will say that within weeks, certainly before the end of the year, the industry will see or at least it will be revealed that The Bahamas has met the requirements necessary to be removed from the blacklist/grey list and the various international gatekeeping standards,” she said during a nationally televised Ministry of Financial Services, Trade and Industry and Immigration Minister’s Report yesterday.

“But the work that has been put forward across the financial services industry by a collaborative effort is outstanding and commendable. We continue to lean in and to push to ensure that our country is seen as one that meets the highest standard of transparency and cooperation.”

Attorney General Carl Bethel has said The Bahamas will likely remain on the FATF list until at least February 2021, while it attempts to have that assessment completed. Watson said work toward having that assessment completed is ongoing.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly impacted the on-site inspection of the FATF, with that being considered we remained on the list,” she said.

“However, the Identified Risk Framework Steering Committee is doing an outstanding job of ensuring that those inspections take place and they will happen in short order. We expect the committee to have a briefing once this is done before the end of the year. I don’t want to preempt the report of that committee, so I will say that in the short term that we do expect that those inspections will take place.”

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