Although significant achievements have been made in the regulation of the St
Kitts and Nevis Financial Services sector since the removal of the twin-island
Federation from the OECD and FATF blacklists, several measures are to be taken
to ensure a favourable assessment later this year, the jurisdiction's government
has announced.
Financial Secretary, Janet Harris and Director General/Regulator of the St.
Kitts Financial Services, Fidela Clarke, told the Cabinet on Monday of areas
which demand immediate attention if St Kitts and Nevis is to achieve a favourable assessment.
The government agencies that these areas fall within the remit of
include the Legal Department, the Financial Services Commission, the Financial
Intelligence Unit, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP),
the Customs and Excise Department, and the Police Department.
The government is confident however, that sufficient additional progress will
be made so that the Federation will achieve a favourable assessment by the CFATF
in September of this year.
A post-cabinet statement emphasised the importance of the integrity of the
financial services sector to protecting the image of the country, boosting investor
confidence, and achieving more economic growth.
The evaluation to be conducted in September will be carried out by the Caribbean
Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) which is an organisation of 30 Caribbean
Basin countries who have agreed to implement common countermeasures to address
the problem of money laundering and the financing of global terrorism.
The principal focus of the CFATF is to bring all of its member countries into
compliance with what are known are the “forty plus nine” recommendations
of the FATF of the OECD.
These recommendations are geared towards strengthening
the financial services regulatory framework in member countries to detect and
prevent money laundering and terrorism financing.
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