Ahead of the passage of legislation that would place cooperative credit unions under the authority of The Central Bank of The Bahamas (CBB), the bank's examiners are already conducting examining exercises within the sector, according to a letter from the bank's inspector of bank and trust companies to senior cooperative credit union officials.
In his letter for the third quarter of 2014, issued on October 21, Inspector Abhilash Bhachech said the bank continues to work to conclude the newly-proposed legislation that would allow the CBB to take supervisory and regulatory responsibility for financial cooperative credit unions.
"In the interim, however, and to facilitate a seamless transition, our team of on-site examiners, in conjunction with the Department of Cooperatives, has been fully vested in conducting examination exercises within the sector, and developing the new policy and operational frameworks," he said.

New fee system
In the wake of the passage of new legislation, Bhachech said the CBB anticipates a "smooth transition" to a license fee payment system in 2015. He noted that the law has been amended to allow for annual license fees to be collected by the bank and remitted to the treasury.
"We have since completed our internal process and all of the relevant details have been communicated to you," he said. "We anticipate a smooth transition to this new payment system for issuance of license fee invoices for the year 2015."

ORIMS
Bhachech also noted that the CBB intends to introduce a
web-based reporting interface as part of a new online reporting and information management system (ORIMS).
He said the CBB team is making good progress on the ORIMS system, which is presently under development. The ORIMS, he said, would provide enhanced efficiencies in the bank's regulatory mechanisms.
Bhachech noted that CBB will be hosting information sessions on the system in the first week of November, details of which will be disseminated in the coming week.

Credit bureau
Bhachech stressed the ongoing consultation on the Draft Credit Reporting Bill 2014 and the Draft Credit Reporting Regulations 2014, through which the government will see the establishment of a credit bureau for the first time in The Bahamas.
The bank views the establishment of a credit bureau as an important part of the development of the financial sector, Bhachech said. He said such a bureau will be important in the sector's ability to facilitate greater efficiency in lending activities and support the bank's overall objective of supporting financial stability.

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