Bahamas removed from money laundering watchlist

By Daniel Gil

The global financial watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has removed The Bahamas from a list of jurisdictions under increased financial scrutiny for anti-money laundering and financial reporting deficiencies.

The intergovernmental task force made the decision last month following a visit to the jurisdiction in November, concluding the country had taken significant steps in recent years in its ability to address failures in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) measures.

‘The Bahamas has strengthened the effectiveness of its AML/CFT system and addressed related technical deficiencies to meet the commitments in its action plan and remedy the strategic deficiencies identified by the FATF in October 2018,’ the group said in a statement.

The action plan developed between The Bahamas and the FATF in 2018 was a continuation of a years-old roadmap to address systemic anti-money laundering deficiencies the organization had found in the country.

The plan included the development of systems to monitor financial crimes, greater supervision of financial institutions and addressing gaps between Bahamian government agencies in fighting money laundering and financial terrorism, among other steps.

Despite the FATF’s decision to remove the jurisdiction from its list in December, the European Union placed The Bahamas on a similar blacklist of countries it had identified as having insufficient money laundering controls early last year.

The move earned backlash from political and financial leaders in the country who chastised the Commission’s decision at the time, criticizing it as a harsh penalty during the onset of the pandemic.

The FATF is an intergovernmental organization based in Paris that sets standards to prevent lawbreaking in finance across the world.

It was founded in 1989 as an initiative developed by G7 countries Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.

Source: https://citywireamericas.com/news/bahamas-removed-from-money-laundering-watchlist/a1447255

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VINDICATED: Bahamas removed from French blacklist

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas has been removed from the French list of non-cooperative states and territories in tax matters, the Ministry of Finance announced yesterday.

The ministry noted that the list, which is updated annually by the French Ministry of Economics and Finance, was published in the Official Diary of the French Republic on March 4.

It further noted that the French government has imposed a number of sanctions on blacklisted countries, including applying withholding taxes at a higher rate on financial transactions involving blacklisted countries. This, it noted, serves as a disincentive to French taxpayers, both individuals and companies, wishing to conduct business in blacklisted countries.

Commenting on the decision, Minister of State for Finance Senator Kwasi Thompson stated: “The decision by France to remove The Bahamas from its tax blacklist is the culmination of extensive bilateral discussions with the French government since we were first listed in December 2019.

“From the moment we learned that The Bahamas was listed, we set about to vigorously disprove France’s assumptions about our commitment to the international regulatory standards on tax cooperation and exchange of information for tax purposes.

“Our discussions with the French authorities have been fruitful and have fostered a deeper degree of cooperation between our two countries. We have aptly demonstrated that The Bahamas is indeed doing its part in the global effort to eradicate harmful tax practices.”

The Bahamas was placed on the French blacklist in December 2019 alongside Anguilla, the Virgin Islands and Seychelles.

The blacklisting was relative to the tax information exchange agreement between France and The Bahamas, and the perception by the French authorities that The Bahamas had not been responding to requests for information in a satisfactory manner.

The government, however, maintained it had no knowledge of any outstanding requests from French authorities.

Attorney General Carl Bethel earlier this year told a local daily that French requests for information on the tax affairs of its citizens and companies had not been answered by The Bahamas because they were being sent to an e-mail address that was not being monitored by the Ministry of Finance.

According to the Ministry of Finance, over the past year, The Bahamas has amplified its engagement in the international community to defend the integrity of the jurisdiction against the criticism that it is not doing enough to curb financial crimes.

It noted that in early 2020, the European Union removed The Bahamas from its list of uncooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes and in December 2020, the Financial Action Task Force removed The Bahamas from its anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism watchlist.

Source: Eye Witness News

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