NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Attorney General Ryan Pinder said yesterday that the government is working to expeditiously to remedy what he described as the “comedy of errors” by the Minnis administration which resulted in this nation’s recent blacklisting by the European Union (EU).
Pinder while making his Senate contribution on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (Amendment) Bill, 2022 addressed the recent EU blacklisting. He noted that shortly after the general election, The Government received notice of certain deficiencies related to the implementation of the Commercial Entities (Substance Requirements) Act, 2018 (“CESRA”), which was entered into force in the Bahamas with effect from 1 January 2019.
“Our administration has worked diligently to satisfy the concerns of the European Union, however not all deficiencies could be addressed before the determination of our review. The European Union has added The Bahamas to its list of non-cooperative jurisdictions. We are committed to closing all remaining gaps expeditiously and to seeking a re-determination of our status in the shortest possible time again remedying the comedy of errors of the prior administration,” said Pinder.
He noted that the deficiencies primarily lie in the reporting portal and methodology that was put in place.
“The former FNM Government looked to put the substance reporting through the Department of Inland Revenue framework. This method was ineffective and presented many problems with the actual administration of the reporting. In fact, at a point in time, the reporting was being done on a manual entry basis as the entire platform was nonfunctional. A complete failure of implementation which led to the blacklisting of the country by the EU,” said Pinder.
He added: “A comedy of errors by the FNM now led by a comedian, we will fix their missteps, we will remedy their wrongs. We have solicited a number of proposals for a separate substance reporting portal and platform that has been designed for a specific purpose, much like what we experience with the BOSS system and beneficial ownership reporting. We have decided and approved a vendor and are in the implementation process as we speak.”
Pinder also noted that the government is “cautiously optimistic” that this nation will be deemed compliant in all 40 of the Financial Action Task Force’s recommendations regarding anti-money laundering compliance during its re-rating evaluation which will take place at the CFATF plenary meetings in November of this year.
