The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has moved to assure the public of its continued supervision of deposit-taking institutions (DTIs) in lights of recent reports of fraud in financial institutions.

In a release the BOJ underscores its concern that “these developments and their potential to negatively affect confidence in Jamaica’s financial system”. To this end, the central bank said that all DTIs — commercial banks, building societies and merchant bank — are sufficiently capitalised and that all deposits in these institutions are safe and secure.

“The central bank’s ongoing regulatory oversight remains robust in relation to financial institutions supervised by Bank of Jamaica, namely: Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica Limited, Citibank, NA, FirstCaribbean International Bank (Jamaica) Limited, First Global Bank Limited, JMMB Bank (Jamaica) Limited, JN Bank Limited, National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited, Sagicor Bank Jamaica Limited, Scotia Jamaica Building Society, Victoria Mutual Building Society, and Cornerstone Trust & Merchant Bank Limited,” the release outlined.

“These institutions are required by law to have all their assets and liabilities recorded on balance sheet,” it added.

Moreover, the bank said it is working with the institutions it supervises to continuously upgrade and strengthen their internal control systems to include ensuring fraud protection and early detection systems. This involves the deployment of advanced technological reporting and analytic tools at global standards.

Commenting on a recent case of alleged fraud at a commercial bank, the BOJ pointed out that strong internal controls, which it has insisted upon, contributed to the early detection of transaction irregularities and “ensured that the rick was kept to a minimal level relative to the capitalisation of the institution”.

“Bank of Jamaica continues to monitor the developments in the financial sector closely to ensure the soundness and stability of the financial system. The basis of a strong and resilient financial system is the confidence clients have in knowing that their funds are safe and secure and can be accessed in a timely manner,” the central stated.

“Bank of Jamaica continues to work with all stakeholders to ensure that this confidence is maintained,” it concluded.