Since assuming responsibility for credit unions in June 2015, The Central Bank of The Bahamas (CBOB) has floated five draft risk management guidelines plus draft uniformed bylaws for industry consultation.
"The bank is now in the process of reviewing comments received on these documents, and we have commenced our 2015 round of on-site examinations," Inspector of Banks And Trust Companies Abhilash Bhachech said.
"Having assumed responsibility for their regulation and supervision on June 1, we have since worked diligently and in close cooperation with the industry to effect a smooth transition," said Bhachech,
The CBOB team met with each individual credit union as well.
As of June 30, 2015 there were the following active credit unions in The Bahamas: the Bahama Islands Cooperative Credit Union, the Bahamas Cooperative League Limited, the Bahamas Law Enforcement Cooperative Credit Union Limited, the Churches Cooperative Credit Union, the Grand Bahama Cooperative Credit Union, the National Workers Cooperative Credit Union, the Public Workers Cooperative Credit Union, the Salem Community Cooperative Credit Union and the Teachers and Salaried Workers Cooperative Credit Union.
FATF prep
The CBOB notes that preparations have been ongoing for the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force's (CFATF) fourth round review of The Bahamas' know your customer (KYC), anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) supervisory framework. CBOB, collaborating with other domestic regulatory agencies, has conducted self-assessments of the country's legal and regulatory AML/CTF framework against the FATF's 2012 revised recommendations. The CBOB has developed a gap analysis of the changes needed to facilitate greater compliance with those standards.
The CBOB also announced updated guidelines for assessing the fitness and propriety of applicants for regulated functions; the updates have been posted to the CBOB website. The updates, the CBOB said, are part of a "continuing effort to ensure a robust KYC/AML/CTF framework".
"These documents were revised to reflect the amendments in the Banks and Trust Companies Regulation (Amendment) Act 2015 relating to fitness and propriety, and now include a section related to an applicants' previous disciplinary record and general compliance history," the letter said.
"Additionally, the guidelines, which now extend to registered representatives and non-bank money transmission businesses and their agents clarify the regulated functions that should be approved by the Central Bank."
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