<http://www.thenassauguardian.com/business/282264186760512.php#%23%23%20template%20not%20found%20%23%23%23> The Nassau Guardian Online Guide Contact Us Tuesday, August 10, 2004 Continued monitoring unfortunate Sears argues against decision by the FATF to continue monitoring The Bahamas By MARTELLA MATTHEWS,Guardian Business Reportermartella@nasguard.com The snub The Bahamas' financial services industry received from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in the form of continued formal monitoring, highlights the urgent need for a more level playing field and the convening of a global forum on money laundering, Attorney General Alfred Sears said. After close to a month of silence following the release of this decision by the FATF outlined in the Annual Review of Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories (NCCT) in early July, Mr Sears, who recently ended his term as chairman of the regional arm of the organization, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) told The Guardian that this development emphasised the need for "a level playing field and uniform application of the law." The Attorney General continued that if these two realities existed, countries like The Bahamas that have made enormous progress in the areas of money laundering and anti terrorism financing regimes would be recognised. "That is why we have been calling for a global forum on money laundering where all countries of the United Nations would have a right to sit down and help to make the rules and ensure that they are applied across the board in a uniform fashion," he said. Noting some of the changes made by the Bahamas immediately after being blacklisted by the FATF in 2000 as a NCCT, Mr Sears said that included in the bundle of financial legislation passed just a year later were the abolishment of practices still in force in some FAFT member countries. "We for example have abolished bearer shares," he said. "They still have bearer shares in the United States and other jurisdictions and FATF member countries." Regulation of gatekeepers like lawyers and accountants was another change made by The Bahamas that is still ongoing in other FATF member countries. In its annual review, the FATF stated that although it had ended the formal monitoring of other CFATF member countries blacklisted with The Bahamas in 2000 or immediately afterwards, concerns regarding adequacy in the areas of international cooperation required that the jurisdiction undergo continued monitoring. In the report, three CFATF member countries were granted an end to their formal monitoring process. Dominica was granted an end to its formal monitoring in October 2003, while the end of monitoring for Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines was formally announced in the annual review. Responding to the slight, Attorney General Sears described the reason given by the international body for continued monitoring as unfortunate adding that The Bahamas had made enormous progress in the area of international judicial cooperation. "That has been acknowledged by the Americas group of the FATF, it's been acknowledged by the United States, it's been acknowledged by Canada and it's also been acknowledged by the United Kingdom and I have the written indications of such," he declared. He admitted however that there were aspects of international cooperation that still needed work. "We still have an outstanding issue in terms of regulators to regulate the cooperation and that relates to the Central Bank and the Securities Commission." Giving a present day example of the issues that were being addressed, Mr Sears said that in instances where information was given to the United States Securities Exchange, this body wanted to be able to share this information with the Justice Department. This presented a problem, as under Bahamian law, similar entities in The Bahamas cannot share information with their counter parts in an unrestricted manner. "The law requires that if the regulator receiving the information wishes to pass it on to another entity they get the approval of the Bahamian regulator," he said. The former CFATF chair told The Guardian that this particular problem was currently being worked out between the Bahamian government and the U.S. regulators. "I headed a delegation comprising of the Governor of the Central Bank, the Minister of Social Services, the Minister of Investments Allyson (Maynard) Gibson, Hillary Deveaux from the Securities Commission, (and) Michelle Martinborough," Mr Sears said. "We have had a very good negotiation with the (U.S.) Securities Commission and Exchange and we're working out a protocol now. Its my expectation that that issue will be satisfactorily resolved in short order." Expressing his disappointment at the move by the FATF, which others in the financial services community describe as a deliberate assault on the country's financial services sector, Mr Sears said: "What I would wish is that when we make progress that it is reflected in the statements out of the FATF... The Bahamas has certainly done more than most; we have gone in some instances further than most. I think we ought to be recognised and it ought to be acknowledged the enormous progress that we have made." -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'