In a recent training exercise carried out by the Caribbean Association of Banks (CAB), 19 participants from nine Caribbean jurisdictions became certified in a one-day training programme designed to improve their understanding of risk and compliance.

The training exercise which took place on October 29 in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten had registrants including chief executive officers, chief financial officers, compliance heads, and senior executives seeking to become enrolled in the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) for Correspondent Banking Certificate Programme.

The programme was enabled by the Florida International Bankers Association (FIBA) in partnership with the CAB Inc.

In a release on Wednesday it was stated that “the training initiative was the first manifestation of the recently-signed memorandum of understanding between CAB and FIBA, and formed part of the 46th annual CAB Conference. Financial services professionals from Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Curacao, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname were involved”.

Correspondent banking and de-risking have been a major concern to the regional financial services sector for several years now and CAB said that its organisation has been working diligently to galvanise a harmonised response. The course which focused on the practical applications of the regulatory requirements with a particular emphasis on nested accounts is one part of that response.

FIBA instructor Maria Jose Fox took the class through seven hours of history, regulatory expectations and understanding of the USA. Patriot Act, money transmitters and money service businesses, risk rating methodology, due diligence, transaction monitoring and case studies. Also supporting on the training day was Wayne Shah, senior vice-president with responsibility for global financial institutions at Wells Fargo Bank.

CAB CEO,Wendy Delmar, expressed her satisfaction with the level of participation and the information conveyed on a vital topic.

“The practitioners here today were clearly very highly energised and engaged from the outset. The highly interactive course offered practical knowledge that they can apply to their correspondent compliance programmes. The range of job functions, organisations, and territories that attended this session demonstrates how far-reaching and how important the issue of correspondent banking is to us in the wider Caribbean. It is incumbent upon us at CAB to continue working towards identifying opportunities and solutions,” she said.

The CAB is a community of banks and other financial institutions in the Caribbean Region, which proactively influences issues impacting the financial services sector through advocacy, education and networking. They represent 56 banks and financial institutions in the Caribbean with an asset base in excess of US$41 billion as at Dec 31, 2018

— By Kellaray Miles