Bahamian Finance Firms Given More Time To Verify Accounts
by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London
22 December 2003

The Bahamian House of Assembly has approved an amendment to the Financial Transaction Reporting Act, first passed in 2000, that will grant financial institutions an additional three months to verify customer accounts.

The amendment means the deadline for account verification has been pushed back to March, giving the country more time to become compliant with international money laundering and regulatory standards.

However, some aspects of the amended legislation have attracted criticism, not least from former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. "Financial institutions in The Bahamas have had three years to verify the identity of persons who hold accounts with them, which expires at the end of this month," observed Mr Ingraham, according to a report in the Bahama Journal.

“The government said in their first amendment that on April 1, if an account had not been verified that the institution shall discontinue any further activity in relation to that account until the ownership was verified, which was a reasonable position. And we supported it,” continued the former PM, adding: “The government has now come along and said that may produce hardship and so 'we want to do something else’”.

Some have also raised concerns that the amendment may contravene the 40 recommendations on money laundering laid down by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Nevertheless, Minister of Financial Services and Investments, Allyson Maynard-Gibson is confident that the current legislation is fully compliant with FATF guidelines.

"Our advisors say - and we advance it - that all of the requirements in the 40 recommendations are being met as the supervisory authority has the ability to instruct the licensee to freeze the account," she announced.

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