Sint Maarten: 19 participants from nine Caribbean jurisdictions took part in a certified one-day training programme designed to improve their understanding of risk and compliance on Tuesday, 29 October 2019, in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten.
The registrants, including chief executive officers, chief financial officers, compliance heads, and senior executives, were enrolled in the Anti-Money Laundering for Correspondent Banking – Certificate Programme, enabled by the Florida International Bankers Association (FIBA), in partnership with the Caribbean Association of Banks (CAB) Inc.
The training initiative was the first manifestation of the recently-signed memorandum of understanding between CAB and FIBA, and formed part of the 46th annual CAB Conference. Financial services professionals from Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname were involved.
Correspondent banking and de-risking have been a major concern to the regional financial services sector for several years now, and CAB has been working diligently to galvanise a harmonised response. This course, focusing on the practical applications of the regulatory requirements, with a particular emphasis on nested accounts, is one part of that response.FIBA instructor Maria Jose Fox took the class through seven hours of history, regulatory expectations, an understanding of the U.S.A. Patriot Act, money transmitters and money service businesses, risk rating methodology, due diligence, transaction monitoring, and case studies.
Ms. Fox has over 30 years of practical international, domestic and regulatory bank experience in private banking, credit, and international bank examinations. Also supporting the training day was Mr. Wayne Shah, Senior Vice President with responsibility for Global Financial Institutions at Wells Fargo Bank.
CAB CEO, Ms. Wendy Delmar, expressed her satisfaction with the level of participation and the information conveyed on this vital topic. She said: “The practitioners here today were clearly very highly energised and engaged from the outset. The highly interactive course offered practical knowledge that they can apply to their correspondent compliance programmes. The range of job functions, organisations, and territories that attended this session demonstrates how far-reaching and how important the issue of correspondent banking is to us in the wider Caribbean. It is incumbent upon us at CAB to continue working towards identifying opportunities and solutions.”
The course carried seven credits, whilst registration for CAB Conference entitles delegates to a further eight credits. CAB Conference 2019 gets underway on Thursday and Friday, 31 October to 1 November, at the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, Casino, and Spa Sint Maarten.
The Correspondent Banking for AML Certificate was developed and is offered in partnership with Florida International University (FIU) a nationally accredited university in the U.S.A., ranked #6 in International Business nationwide.
