As global regulators heighten their scrutiny of money laundering, terrorist financing and fraud, the eyes and ears of The Bahamas' financial services sector were challenged Wednesday to effectively minimize risk in a highly regulated industry, protecting the jurisdiction’s reputation and meeting compliance objectives head-on
Nearly 150 compliance professionals attended the Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers’ (BACO) Annual Money Laundering Reporting Officers (MLRO) Day held at the Hilton.
BACO's members ensure that financial institutions doing business in the jurisdiction comply with the laws of The Bahamas, international regulations and guidelines. Their anti-money laundering (AML) detection and prevention training protect financial institutions from potential money-laundering abuse, safeguarding against reputational and other business risks associated with customer acceptance, identification and account transactions.
“As money laundering reporting officers our job is to ensure compliance with local laws and regulations through thorough control standards, processes and programs,” said BACO’s President Cheryl Bazard. She took participants through the regulatory backdrop, reviewed their responsibilities and offered practical assistance during her presentation, ‘Ethics, Duty and Your Liability in a Sea of Change - Do You Really Know Your Risk?’
“The Chief Officer and MLRO should be independent and free from influences that may affect his/her ability to perform your duties objectively. The ethics comes in when issues arise which could present risk to earnings or capital arising from violations, or non-compliance with laws, prescribed business practices or ethical standards.”
Under those circumstances, Mrs Bazard said it is the MLRO job to ask tough questions and make difficult calls even if it comes down to choosing between their reputation/character or one’s job.
“[MLROs] must be fully conversant with the business affairs and activities of the financial institution and be able to respond to inquiries from the inspector of bank and trust companies about all aspects of the financial institution’s operations,” she said. “Any reported suspicion that a person is engaged in money laundering must be considered in the light of all other relevant information.”
The MLRO must report to the Financial Intelligence Unit, any relevant agency or to a police suspicions or reasonable grounds to suspect a person is engaged in money laundering.
“The money laundering reporting officer will be expected to act honestly and reasonably and to make his or her determination in good faith when making a decision to file a suspicious transaction report,” said Mrs Bazard, the principal of the law firm, Bazard & Co.
“No MLRO is expected to be infallible in validating reports of suspicions or deciding whether or not to make a disclosure.”
She noted that decisions proven to have been wrong would not constitute evidence of non-compliance, money laundering or terrorism financing, providing that the reasons for non-disclosure are justified, fully documented and retained with the original suspicious report.
As a part of the Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers (BACO) social outreach, Cheryl Bazard and members of her executive team presented the Junkanoo group, Genesis Warhawks with a gift certificate for the purchase of workbooks for children in Over-the-Hill communities.
Nearly 150 compliance professionals attended the Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers’ (BACO) Annual Money Laundering Reporting Officers (MLRO) Day held at the Hilton.
