dent Banking Relations; De-risking and Branding Caribbean Countries as Tax Havens. The CAB made a presentation on“ The Myth of the Caribbean as a Tax Haven” and proposed several actions which should be taken by all stakeholders in order to rebrand the region in a more positive light.
• The CAB served as a source of credible information for four major international media who wrote on the issue of de-risking.
Our activities have positioned the CAB as a credible voice for the regional financial industry. As advocacy is just one step in effecting change, the CAB has also collaborated with a UK Bank to provide correspondent banking services to members. They have so far on-boarded seven of 13 CAB members who have applied for their services. We continue our efforts to identify and collaborate with other such providers.
FATCA: Tax Transparency remains a pertinent issue for the Region and the CAB is cognisant of the implications of non-compliance with International Tax Regulations such as FATCA and CRS. With respect to FATCA, the CAB has been actively monitoring the number of jurisdictions which do not have Inter Governmental Agreements( IGAs) in force and has issued press releases urging these Caribbean jurisdictions to expedite the process to get their IGA’ s in force by December 2016 in order to avoid the negative consequences of non-compliance. In terms of the OECD’ s Common Reporting Standards( CRS) the CAB in collaboration with its Service member, Deloitte Caribbean, conducted a webinar on 5th October, 2016 to provide members with the necessary guidance to facilitate compliance with this standard.
Education & Training: Strengthening the skills and knowledge of our members through training and education continues to be a high priority for the CAB. During 2016, the CAB facilitated in-house training workshops for two members in the areas of Consultative Selling Skills and Leadership Coaching. We also collaborated with FIBA and the Association of Compliance Officers to host two AML courses in May, 2016 in Curaçao on“ The Compliance Challenge” and“ Advising Clients in a Highly Regulated Environment” which attracted 52 participants and were very well received. The CAB also negotiated discounts on registration fees for members attending various other conferences of interest. The CAB has also established collaboration with banking institutes in the Region to review banking certification at a regional level.
Webinars: Webinars for Members facilitated by CAB covered a range of topics, such as: Revolutionizing Digital Payments through Analytics( American Banker); Digital Banking Opportunities & Challenges in 2016( Bright Talk); Cyber Risk in the Digital Era( Deloitte); Developing a Star Teller( Center for Financial Training); CRS and FATCA Reporting( Trans world Compliance), and; Leadership Development Programs to Cultivate Future Leaders Effectively( Deloitte).
Credit Skills Academy: The Credit Skills Academy in association with Keith Checkley and Associates provides members an affordable avenue to improve the standard of Credit Risk Management in their organisations. We are pleased that over 30 employees of Member Institutions have enrolled with the Academy. Eight students have graduated at the Foundation Level of the certification and there are currently
26 students pursuing the Foundation Level and five at the Advanced Level. We wish them every success in their studies!
CAB Scholarship: Our new CAB scholarship awardees Ms. Ariel Williams, Customer Care Supervisor, National Bank of Dominica and Ms. Thaiz Ramirez, Customer Sales Supervisor, Republic Bank Ltd, started their degree programs in Banking and Finance at the UWI Open Campus in September, 2016, while current awardee, Ms. Deriece Barns of Antigua Commercial Bank has successfully completed all her courses and should complete her BSc Banking and Finance in 2016. We offer our full support and encouragement to our awardees.
Closer alignment with Regulators & Associations: Given the dynamism of the financial industry, it is imperative that key stakeholders collaborate to achieve greater effectiveness. Accordingly, the CAB has been in contact with 14 regional bankers’ associations with a view to formalising this relationship. In the latter part of the year, members of our Board visited two territories and held discussions with Central Bank officials, Bankers’ Associations, and members and potential members of the CAB. The insights gained during these discussions were very valuable and, will serve to enhance CAB’ s value proposition to its members. It is the Board’ s intention to continue to conduct such meetings in the New Year, in order to work together to effect significant changes in the infrastructure of the financial industry.
Collective Negotiator: We are pleased that many more members have taken advantage of the CAB’ s Group Crime and Liability Insurance which has been expanded to cover: Comprehensive Crime; Electronic Computer Crime; Cyber Security; Trade Credit / Political Risks; and Plastic Card Risks. We encourage the remaining members to take advantage of the policy, which provides substantial cost savings on premiums( 20 %-50 %), and better policy wording which gives improved insurance protection.
Improving internal team capacity: The Board of Directors has approved a new HR structure for the Secretariat in order to build capacity to achieve the goals and objectives of the Association. In August 2016, a research officer was added to the team at the Secretariat. We believe these changes will bring about greater effectiveness and efficiency at the Secretariat. 2016 was a challenging but exciting year for the CAB and we are confident that, given the progress which has been made in dealing with the several issues facing the industry, 2017 will be even more productive. We sincerely thank all of our members and partners for their continued support and collaboration, which can only serve to enhance the Secretariat’ s ability to satisfactorily realise the goals and mission of the CAB. We look forward to your continued support and pledge our unstinting commitment to the Association.
Mrs. Mary Popo, General Manager, Caribbean Association of Banks Inc.
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