Alicia Nicholls IMF Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Tao Zhang, gave an interesting and comprehensive speech summarising the “Caribbean response to the Withdrawal of Correspondent Banking” at the Conference on the Withdrawal of Correspondent Banking in Antigua & Barbuda on October 28, 2016. The following realities stood out to me from Mr. Zhang’s speech: Almost 60% […]
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Alicia
Can you do a precis as to why we need correspondent banking?
Well you have to know that land , money and fraud goes hand and hand, You all dont listen nor learn that Barbados is full of fraud and not grow with out , out side investors, internal investing in COW and the crooks lawyers is stuck on stupid,
The rest of the World is learning as you can see China is now heading Banking by the IMF and not American , Who controls the money now want things done right with Honor,
Barbados have a lot to clean up with , Here Comes BRICS, like it or not USA is no longer the head of Banking and Loans, All funds now must be back by Gold and not good faith and credit,
The is a better New World Order, The “White Dragon Society” is now leading the way with Russia, Barbados PM and crooks Ministers time is short as WARRANTS WORLD WIDE IS GOING AFTER BANKERS AND LAWYERS,Ministers WHO MAKE THIS WORLD ON EARTH HELL.
@Vincent Haynes, you have asked a sensible question and I am happy to respond. In a nut shell, correspondent banking relationships are what make everyday activities like sending and receiving remittances, cashing foreign cheques, sending wire transfers and other forms of payment for international goods and services possible. All of these are things which we all depend on at some point in time, some of us on a daily basis. Therefore, the loss or restriction of these relationships would make it difficult of us to receive remittances or send wire transfer. On a micro level it is an inconvenience. On a macro level, potentially disastrous for our economies.
@ CTL at 9 :41 A:M
How much of the Banking system in the Caribbean is made up of international commercial banks? We need to have this in value and by number of customers. Would you please elaborate what you mean by disastrous at the macro-economy level?
The following is extracted from the Deputy IMF Director’s speech in Antigua from the link provided. It probably explains what informed Dr. Justin Robinson’s comment in the local media yesterday that international bank might look to exit the region. This is where the CBR issue will bite if indigenous FIs are expected to stepup.
In short, the withdrawal of CBRs is partly a reflection of cost-benefit tradeoffs growing out of increased regulation and enforcement affecting international banks, global banks.
Regulatory reforms have produced increased bank capital and liquidity requirements. This has contributed to reduced profitability of correspondent banking.
In addition, compliance costs have increased because of the intensified efforts to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.
Banks also have to respond to efforts to promote international tax transparency.
For those of you who do NOT follow the links here is another snippet from Zhang:
The Caribbean Association of Banks says that almost 60 percent of member institutions that it has interviewed report a loss of such relationships.
A significant % of financial transactions is done by the indigenous FIs. However you spin the issue it is a problem and it is why the Caricom heads have created a taskforce led by Antigua to champion the issue with the international players.
@Bernard Codrington, the research is online for you to consult. The IMF, CPMI, CDB etc have all written informative reports on this. Do have a read of them if you care for more information on the topic.
caribbeantradelaw October 29, 2016 at 9:41 AM #
How feasible would it be for the Caribbean as a whole to establish its own banking facilities around the world like the Rothschilds did 400 odd years ago?
@David, you are right on point.
As i stated when BU introduced this issue in a previous Blog,the problem surfaced because the Developing countries want to pass the costs of tracking their criminals to emerging economies. The drug trade has meant for us increased Security, policing and Judicial system costs. Tax avoidance and tax evasion ,elaborate tracking systems and institutions. All these require resources which could be better allocated to our social and economic development. We hardly have any choices because they form the markets for our goods and services.
@Vincent Haynes, it is an issue which has been mooted. For starters, it will be an expensive undertaking and will require regional cooperation and financial commitment at a time when many of our governments remain highly indebted. Secondly, any such bank will be subject to the regulations of the jurisdiction in which it is domiciled. However, it is something of which Caribbean countries may have to seriously weigh the costs and benefits if this situation continues.
caribbeantradelaw October 29, 2016 at 10:14 AM #
It may very well be the reason needed to weld these territories together.
The time is long overdue that we stop being reactive and start being pro-active and firmly re-establish our place in the world order.
@Bernard Codrington, the issue stems from the lack of profitability of maintaining CBRs with our jurisdictions versus the compliance costs plus the potential fines those correspondent banks face if a lapse occurs. In Barbados we are fortunate only to the extent that all of our commercial banks are foreign owned and have still retained their CBRs. However, the offshore banks do not have that luxury. Moreover, as David noted, those banks could pull out of the island. Moreover, in countries where indigenous banks have a greater market presence, the loss of CBRs has brought hardship. Belize is a noteworthy example which I saw firsthand earlier this year when I was there presenting on this issue at a conference. It is a serious issue which is why FATF, as well as other agencies are monitoring it.
@Vincent Haynes, I couldn’t agree with you more!
@ Vincent Haynes at10:06 AM,
Very difficult and too costly. You may or may not recall BNB’s attempt to establish a presence in London to accommodate the Bajan Diaspora. The BOE persuaded the CBB to put moral suasion on BNB to close it; and so it was. You may recall that Sagicor was listed for a very short time on the London Stock exchange. Do you recall what happened there?
But perhaps you may want to try again. I am one of those economists who like to subject every policy and every economic decision to a cost benefit analysis.
Bernard Codrington. October 29, 2016 at 10:25 AM #
Take a lesson from Brexit…..lets decide as a Caribbean whole to do it come what may…….we have for too long hung on the coat tails of others,we simply must find a way to establish our own international banking structure,even in partnership with other LDCs in the same boat.
@Bernard Codrington, agreed re the costliness of such a venture.
@CTL
Thanks for keeping BU aware and informed. You and your organization are pro active Continue smartly.
@Bernard Codrington, many thanks. I respect your expertise and enjoy reading your comments even where we disagree. I would love to chat with you some time.
@ Vincent Haynes at 10:33 AM
I am of the view that Brexit took a lesson from Jamaica Exit and T & T Exit of 1962. 52 % of the British electorate did a cost benefit analysis and determined that in the long run the benefits to Britain far exceeded the costs of surrendering its sovereignty.
There are alternatives to an antiquated CBRS System. The financial instruments which it was designed to facilitate are being replaced.
Bernard Codrington. October 29, 2016 at 10:58 AM #
I was there during Brexit and would say that the 52% were fed up with the system and wanted change,so when Gove,Johnson&Farage promissed them what they wanted to hear they voted for it not realising the hard road ahead,the same is likely to happen in the USA.The masses of the western world are fed up.
The question is…..what will motivate us Caribbean people to work together for the greater good?
I am disappointed when lawyers pose as know-alls and get it embarrassingly wrong. Citizenship by investment receipt i an invitation to the Russians and Mafia. Do we in the Caribbean have any national pride?
As to so-called correspondent banking, this is he US trying to bully the rest of the world. All small banks need is a relationship with global payments system so that cheque can be cleared across borders.
In any case, the newly formed Barbados Revenue Authority now declines to accept foreign cheques from people paying their land tax.
The problem is young lawyers who want to make a name for themselves move away from criminal litigation in to areas they do not know very much about.
There is minimal financial content on the curriculum of the Wooding School. I know that because a friend of mine who studied there asked for some assistance while there.
As to Brexit, not even the British know what is going on. Stop talking about things you know nothing about.
Parliament is still waiting to see what role it has to play.
@Hal
What is your point? Your quote highlights the problem indigenous bank have in the prevailing climate. Caricom has sized the problem and has set up a high powered lobby sub Caricom group. Have you visited Belize and to a lesser extent Antigua to sniff the problem? First you need to appreciate that there is a problem.
As to so-called correspondent banking, this is he US trying to bully the rest of the world. All small banks need is a relationship with global payments system so that cheque can be cleared across borders.
I wish to remind BU Bloggers that the World behaves like an organism. It is constantly evolving. Each change we make results in a consequential change almost instantly. The capitalism of the first Industrial Revolution in the 19th century is not identical to the Capitalist system which has developed over the last three decades.
The financial system has taken precedence and is disrupting the Real Economy. It is profit driven. Money seems to matter more than welfare. By Real Economy I mean the production and distribution of goods and services. The concern is not the consumer but financial benefits to shareholders, and senior management.
Bernard you could easily have added that Barbados and the other Caribbean islands are signatories to many international arrangements that ensure we march to the beat of the global drum. What is globalization?
Time for us to unite and re-think this globalisation thing.
That our banks are foreign-owned is not good fortune, it poses a systemic risk to our regulation. Whether our banks are branches, or wholly-owned subsidiaries, it means that key decisions are being made in Trinidad, the US and Canada. This is a regulatory risk to our financial system.
That is why we urgently need a Barbados domiciled bank. Commenters seem to be making a mistake between retail and investment banks. Government underwrite retail banks, which means that if there is a run on one of these foreign-owned banks and Barbadian savers stand to lose their life savings, the government must step in.
If the problem is with the investment arm, as things stand, that will contaminate the retail arm when rightly the burden should be that of the investors.
Barbados must not try to punch above its weight: we need a small bank that accepts salary cheques, offer credit cards, pay standing orders, offer an ATM service, offer a service to small businesses, protection insurance to households and SMEs.
The story about the BNB and Sagicor operating in London is something else. I will tell that story at some point. Read the Bank of England’s report on the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (Barrow saved the local branch).
The Americans – SEC, state attorneys general, Dept of Justice, Uncle Tom Cobbley and all – etc are punishing the British and European banks for the 2007/8 financial crisis. We do not want to fall in to that trap. It is American protectionism at it worst.
@ Vincent Haynes
Too many commentators and politicians assume that they are the only persons that are thinking and wise . Never underestimate the electorate, especially an educated one. I think you need to visit the blocks and the village Sport Bars. Not to pontificate but to listen.
As to the June 23 Referendum, the British voted along race lines, immigration, not on the power of Brussels. That was the over-arching narrative, but the reality was the hordes of people coming across the Mediterranean.
Look at the developments in Germany, France, Belgium – and the fascists coming out of the woodwork in Hungary and Poland.
Remember, Brits speak with fork tongue – what they say is not always what they mean.
@Hal
Let us accept all you posited in your last comment, the CBR issue is still in play. In other words how will said indigenous bank establish a relationship with the international clearing network to settle external transactions.
@ David @11:26 AM
The signators acted with our consent. They were our agents. If one wants to reverse the signators , change the agents.
Barbados was always part of a Global Economy. The “Globe” just got larger. Small Countries with Big Countries’ aspirations cannot opt out of the Global Economy.
@ David at 11:39
The indigenous bank can open a Foreign Currency account with the local subsidiary of the International Bank and have all his international financial relationships satisfied. I can think of at least 5 other methods but this exercise is purely academic.
@Bernard
Why do you say it would be academic? Wouldn’t the transaction of opening a foreign account at a local foreign subsidiary not have to undergo the very due diligence being critiqued by Alicia’s piece?
David
Why do you want to remove due diligence from financial transactions ? Do you not do it when you lend money , your car , your garden fork? If you know there are thieves scoping the area, do you still leave your house key in the plant pot?
The same relates to local financial institutions.
Have you examined the recent financial history of Antigua and Belize ?
@Bernard
The point about due diligence is that the local subsidiary will not escape the risk policy of the head office.
@David, you are correct.
Bernard Codrington. October 29, 2016 at 11:36 AM #
Pubs,Blocks&Rumshops have been always my haunts,it is the only way to discover the pulse of wherever you are in the world………which is why I say that the 52% did no such analysis as you stated…….they like many others in the western world are fed up with the broken promisses of the the politicians…..yet they bought into Johnso&Co. and the USA may do likewise with Trump.
@Vincent
Agree with you and it explains Trump’s popularity, a non politician.
@ David
Why should it? Do you think shareholders invest in a bank to lose its investments or to have their dividends reduced because some banker did not do due diligence?
Do you think that the Central Bank of Canada wants the Financial system of Canada compromised because of the negligence of some bank clerk in Barbados?
You admitted that we live in a global Economy. You saw the world wide effect of giving home mortgages to mortgagors who had low incomes or no incomes but still obtained mortgages. That event costs the American tax payers Trillions of USD. So whatever system you come up with local ,regional,or world wide , there will be a need for due diligence.
Let them keep believing everything the british says and see if they do not end up in shackles and chains again, in their lifetime.
Vincent Haynes,
52 % of the people voted for Brexit. People who had skin in the game. With all the information provided to them , made a decision. Your view that it was a bad decision does not matter. Your opinion is not fact.
Similarly if the USA electorate votes for Trump in the next few days ,that will be their decision. It may or may not have disastrous consequences for the rest of the world . But they call the shots. My opinion and your opinion about Trump is academic.
@Bernard
We are obviously not communicating on the same wave length. Watch the YouTube posted earlier. The presenter scopes the issues from a regulator’s perspective.
David
What wave length is BU on? Tell me so I can zero in on the same frequency?
@ Vincent Haynes October 29, 2016 at 10:33 AM #
“Take a lesson from Brexit…..lets decide as a Caribbean whole to do it come what may…….we have for too long hung on the coat tails of others,we simply must find a way to establish our own international banking structure,even in partnership with other LDCs in the same boat.”
Dream on, my friend!
If these people can’t even get a two-bit airline called LIAT to operate effectively enough to promote greater regional integration and facilitate greater economic activity do you really feel they are capable of establishing their “own international banking structure”?
Barbados cannot be part of any “international banking structure, even in partnership with other LDCs in the same boat” unless it is prepared to jettison its own fast debasing currency and close down its money printing press call its Central Bank.
When the Caricom states are able to accept the CCJ and its ambit of jurisprudence as the legal currency of the socio-economic realm them you can exit the big brother house of dreams and talk about day-to-day survival in the big bad world of Finance.
East Caribbean governments and their political class including Barbados have allowed themselves to be tainted and sullied with the dirt of corruption, money-laundering and the selling of succor and blatant protection from the law to both local and international criminals in the underworld of finance.
The cases of Allen Stanford and your own homegrown CLICO Ponzi boys spring readily to mind.
Are you forgetting how a local politician was able to launder his ill-gotten gains by having them deposited in his ‘poor’ mother’s bank account?
What about the speaker of a most august chamber of law-making, having deprived a disabled geriatric of thousands of his family’s inheritance, is publicly supported by a h.o.g and is openly offered protection from moral censure and allowed to disgrace that former hallowed court of justice and fair-play by his continuing presence.
Maybe the OECD is seized with more information about these regional shenanigans that you might wish to believe.
@Bernard
To open a foreign account with the subsidiary of a foreign bank it stands to reason the that the risk policy of the Bank i.e. head office will be applied by the local subsidiary. Others more learned can clarify.
Bernard Codrington. October 29, 2016 at 1:20 PM #
I have not opined on Brexit…….I am a firm believer that the will of the masses must be respected and I agree with May that Brexit means Brexit(whenever she defines it)……we will agree to disagree on the analysis done by the 52%.
millertheanunnaki October 29, 2016 at 1:45 PM #
Sadly you are correct……but we must have a vision and attempt to obtain it.
The OECD central bank is the strongest in the Caribbean……possibly not saying much but still a glimmer of hope.
David at 2:49 PM
And I agree. There is nothing wrong about that.
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