Barbados has just over a year to show international regulators that it can maintain strict anti-money-laundering standards, or risk being placed back on key global grey and black lists – even as officials who helped get Barbados onto the international financial watchdogs’ good books were being honoured, it was revealed on Wednesday.
“We essentially have to prove to the international financial community between now and June next year that we have a system which is compliant with the new arrangements,”
Senate President Reginald Farley, who served on the team responsible for helping Barbados secure removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list and the European Union’s blacklist of high-risk jurisdictions, announced to reporters during the national honours and decorations ceremony at State House.
The ceremony recognised members of the FATF Action Plan Implementation Team and the International Business Unit Economic Substance Team for their work in leading Barbados off the two lists.
“We certainly had no contemplation of national recognition when we embarked on this task,” Senator Farley said. “It was a matter of recognising the importance of Barbados’ compliance with international money laundering standards in order to remove that impediment from our economy.”
Barbados was required to undertake reforms after deficiencies were identified during a mutual evaluation conducted between 2016 and 2017.
“The Financial Action Task Force set up an action plan, giving us a timeframe within which to implement certain reforms,” he said.
While Barbados remains off the major international lists, Farley told journalists that the country still faces a critical examination next year.
Barbados will have to submit several written reports over the coming months before an international review team visits the island in June 2027 for the “final test”, Senator Farley disclosed.
That team, he said, will interview members of the private sector, law enforcement agencies and financial regulators, to determine whether Barbados’ laws, regulations and enforcement systems are effectively capable of combating money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
“We are part of the international community,” Senator Farley said. “One of the requirements is that all countries in the world must show that they are not even unwittingly being used as a means of funnelling money to fund terrorist activity, or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”
Senator Farley stressed that Barbados must now intensify its efforts under the tighter rules associated with the next round of international evaluations.
“We have a responsibility to redouble our efforts to ensure that under the new tightened rules of this next fifth round that we do not find ourselves on any negative listing,” he said.
Back in February, Minister of Finance Ryan Straughn described the development as a breakthrough after over seven years of “really, really, really hard work”, which he stressed paves the way for Bridgetown to move full steam ahead in its promotion as a preferred investment hub compliant with all international tax and business standards.
He said: “Over the last seven and a half years, the government has worked to address all of the issues that were highlighted on the EU black list. Along with the FATF [Financial Action Task Force] and the OECD [Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development]. So, we have done so because the reputation of Barbados required a complete overhaul and to demonstrate that we are a well-run jurisdiction.”
Economists also praised the delisting at the time, with Professor Dr Don Marshall, director and senior research fellow of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES), underscoring the development as a critical boost to the island’s brand. He also stressed that the benefits of this status would be felt almost immediately within the economy, primarily through the stabilisation of existing businesses and the attraction of new foreign investment.
Senator Farley pledged that Barbados would commit the necessary financial and technical resources and make any legislative changes required to maintain international confidence in the country’s financial system.
He also outlined the structure coordinating the country’s anti-money laundering efforts, noting that responsibility ultimately falls under the Office of the Attorney General through the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Authority.
The authority works alongside law enforcement agencies, customs officials, the Barbados Revenue Authority, the Central Bank and the Financial Services Commission through a coordinated AML Network which meets frequently.
“We do have governance structures, we do have a coherent strategy and a national action plan of where we are and what we need to do to get where we need to be by the end of this process in June of 2027,” he said.
(SB)
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