Barbados Central Bank 'Must Rise To The Challenge of E-Business'

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

17 July 2001

Speaking at a recent Central Bank of Barbados conference, the CEO of Visions Systems Software, Mike Evans, talked of the need for Barbados banks and companies to rise to the challenge of E-business. This is a topic very much in the minds of Barbadians at the moment, as the Minister of Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Business Development, Ronald Toppin, who has been charged with the development of a coherent e-commerce strategy for the jurisdiction, also recently spoke on the subject, as previously reported

Speaking to senior banking officials, Mr Evans stressed the importance of a dynamic approach to e-commerce on the part of the Central bank itself: 'Usually regulatory bodies such as central banks find themselves in reactionary positions rather than proactive positions due to the dynamics of change,' he observed. 'With e-business these changes are not only dynamic, but are constant.'

Mr Evans also talked of the rapid pace of international change in the arena of internet banking, and warned that central banks everywhere would need to be alert to the possibility that ongoing regulatory change might be necessary, but that it remained uncertain how quickly new technologies would change the landscape, both in Barbados and on an international level.

He also alerted banking officials to the possibility of confusions over currency issues arising as a result of increasingly widespread digital transactions. 'As digital transactions become widespread, currency would essentially be issued by a variety of institutions,' he observed. 'Some would even extend beyond the reach of our national boundaries. How then would monetary growth be managed?' He pointed out that this is an issue which will be compounded by regulatory and control aspects, particularly as increasing numbers of non-finacial institutions are now offering financial services.

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