The Caribbean Association of Banks (CAB) fully supports Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston A. Browne in his remarks to the meeting of CARICOM heads and President of the United States Barack Obama on Thursday, April 9 in Jamaica.

According to the CAB, Browne highlighted a very real and grave threat to the Caribbean banking industry on which the CAB has been advocating - the unfair and unsubstantiated labeling of the Caribbean region as a high-risk area for financial services by some U.S. organizations - which is resulting in the disturbing threat of loss of correspondent banking relationships to banks in the region.

"Correspondent banks use the risk rating of countries, in assessing the risk profile of banks, to determine whether to continue existing or establish new relationships," noted the CAB in a press release.

"The present trend is that some correspondent banks have discontinued some of the services provided to regional banks and are also not establishing new relationships particularly with small size financial institutions."

The CAB highlighted that correspondent banking relationships are critical in enabling key economic and financial transactions, such as remittances, foreign direct investments and international trade in goods and services, which constitute some of the key drivers for sustaining the region's growth and development. Consequently, the loss of these vital relationships can render the region unbankable and ultimately destabilize all sectors of its economies.

"The CAB considers this issue to be a threat to national security for the various islands in the region. The CAB is pleased to note that President Barack Obama reiterated at his meeting with the Young Leaders of the Americas, that he has committed to examine the complaints and go through, in very concrete ways, where our concerns are and how our governments can work together."

The CAB noted that it will remain vigilant on this serious matter and will continue to collaborate with CARICOM and other stakeholders toward a resolution.

The Caribbean Association of Banks, Inc. is a community of banks and other financial institutions in the Caribbean/CARICOM region, which provides opportunities for discussion on issues impacting the regional banking/financial services community, as well as for the sharing of experiences and networking. CAB is an organization dedicated to the advocacy of national and institutional adherence to anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). It recommends and supports full compliance with the AML/CFT standards in order to protect all financial systems within the region from ongoing money laundering and terrorist financing risks.

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