Criminals who use cryptocurrency or any other digital platforms to hide the proceeds of crime will find fewer places to hide under new legislation, Attorney General Wilfred Abrahams told the House of Assembly on Tuesday.
He also said Barbados’ standing in the global financial system depends on proving the law is actually used.
The veteran attorney made the revelation while debating the Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill, 2026, noting that virtual assets have become a favoured tool of criminals seeking to bypass the traditional banking sector and the scrutiny that comes with it.
He explained that virtual assets can be traded or moved across borders like money, without passing through banks, central banks or the official financial sector. Using the example of bitcoin, he said such assets can be exchanged “as if it was money but is not money”.
Comparison
He compared them to old bearer bonds, where simply holding the instrument was proof of entitlement to its value. Virtual assets, he said, need no permission to move, which makes them attractive to those trying to dodge foreign exchange restrictions, tax authorities and criminal investigators.
As an example, he noted that if $10 000 suddenly appeared in his bank account, someone could ask why and he would have to declare it. But if the same value were placed in a digital wallet managed by someone else, it would never reach a bank or come to the attention of the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA).
“So it is largely unregulated,” the Attorney General said.
The Bill aims to close that gap by regulating the businesses that exchange, hold and transfer virtual assets. This includes custody of assets, as well as payment and transfer services. It will also reach foreign providers whose business or currency passes through Barbados, even if they are based elsewhere. Companies incorporated locally that do no business in or through Barbados will not be caught.
The goal, Abrahams said, is to give regulators the ability to see wealth “from the time it was created to the time it was disposed”, especially where transactions look suspicious or could point to money laundering or terrorist financing.
He said criminals should expect investigators to follow the money well beyond the original offence. When police catch someone with a large quantity of drugs, he said, convicting and sentencing the offender is not enough. Authorities must also investigate how that person bought a car and acquired other assets, and require proof that those assets were obtained legitimately.
“If you have not, you have failed,” he said.
Under that approach, hidden digital holdings would no longer be a blind spot. Police must share information with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who can then consider whether other legislation, including this Bill, can be used against the offender.
Abrahams tied the Bill directly to Barbados’ evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international body that sets standards against money laundering and terrorist financing. Every country that wishes to trade widely must pass these evaluations.
Barbados passed the fourth round, he recalled, by proving it had the laws, which led to its removal from an international watch list.
Remaining on such lists does not bar trade, he said, but it triggers enhanced due diligence by foreign banks. A simple payment can then require answers about directors, incorporation dates and other customers, and firms face 15 or 20 forms instead of one or two. Many simply stop doing business, and companies with options may relocate, which Abrahams said is why staying off the lists is vital to preventing capital flight.
More difficult
The fifth round, now underway, asks a harder question: How effectively have those laws been used? “Show us the proof,” he said, citing the assessors’ demands for investigations, prosecutions, arrests and assets seized.
He admitted that Barbados does not face laundering risks on the scale of the United States or the United Kingdom, but said that does not excuse a lack of results. He pointed to Turkey, which presented an impressive cross-border case leading to about 270 arrests but was marked down because it had effectively only prosecuted one. The system, he said, must be seen working consistently, not just against “big fish”.
Because the virtual asset law was not required in the fourth round, Abrahams said Barbados must start using it the moment it clears both Houses. Agencies including the Financial Intelligence Unit, Corporate Affairs, the Police Service, the Attorney General’s Office, the DPP and the Revenue Authority “must work together rather than in silos”.
If suspicious transactions are not matched by proportionate investigations, “we fail”, he said. (BA)
The post New Bill targets unlawful crypto use appeared first on nationnews.com.
