Canada Lifts Bahamas Financial Advisory

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

14 August 2001

It was announced earlier this month that Canada has somewhat belatedly followed the lead of the United States in removing its financial advisory on the Bahamas following the jurisdiction's removal from the Financial Action Task Force blacklist of 'uncooperative' countries.

In a letter to the Bahamian Prime Minister, Hubert Ingraham, the Canadian Minister of Finance Paul Martin, congratulated the Bahamas on its removal, and praised the efforts made by the Bahamas to clear its name. He also noted that changes to the regulatory and financial regime has made the jurisdiction a leader in the Carribean in terms of creating eminent standards to fight money laundering.

However, he warned that Canada would continue to monitor the country's action with regards to the restructuring of the financial sector, but added that: 'We will continue to stress the need for the FATF to treat countries in an open, fair and transparent manner.'

Speaking at the 22nd CARICOM conference last month, Prime Minister Ingraham took a similarly cautious view of the country's delisting, stating that although Caribbean countries must remain aware of the increasing international competition in financial services, they must nevertheless continue to fight for a level playing field in terms of any international initiative relating to the provision and delivery of international financial services, whether it comes from the FATF, the OECD or the FSF.

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