Bahamas News

EU Demands Money Laundering Convictions

Published

5 years ago

March 8, 2019

Deandrea Hamilton

The Bahamas ‘Stubborn’ with Global Financial Obligations

Deandre Williamson

Journal Staff Writer (Bahamas Press Club)

#Brussels, March 8, 2019 – Belgium – European Union Member of Parliament Sven Giegold called The Bahamas a “stubborn case” as he insisted that the country must carry out money laundering convictions before the nation can be considered for removal from the European Union’s blacklist.

“According to the figures I have, there are no convictions on The Bahamas because of money laundering,” Giegold, who was in Germany, said during an exclusive Skype interview with The Bahama Journal in Brussels, Belgium.

Last month, The Bahamas was blacklisted by the European Union and labeled as a high-risk jurisdiction for financial crime. However, the EU wants action from The Bahamas, which includes enforcing the financial services laws.

According to Giegold, all large financial sectors, like The Bahamas, have money-laundering problems and there are globally agreed standards, which are violated by fraudsters and people who have money to hide.

“If in certain jurisdictions, although it has a larger financial place, a larger financial center, and nobody is convicted, that is a clear sign that your regime doesn’t deliver,” Giegold said. “That is the reason why The Bahamas was seen as a country that has not solved all the problems and this is not about destroying anyone’s business.”

Giegold, who is also the coordinator on the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee for European Parliament’s Greens Group, pointed out that The Bahamas’ position in the international debate was that the government would fight crime, not money laundering.

“The position of your government was we will fight drug dealers, we will fight corruption, we will fight trafficking humans and so on, but we will not go after money laundering,” Giegold said, adding that “this is why there is a basically zero positive track record in The Bahamas.”

“This is exactly what is a very unfortunate position because fighting the money coming from crime is one of the most promising levers to fight crime. So it is not enough to say we fight the original criminality. We also have to try best to fight dirty money, so that the incentive to do crime is reduced because if you cannot use the money you make with crime, you’ll be less inclined to become criminal.

“This is the reason why there is this global standard and The Bahamas have to show that you are cleaning up your financial sector and convict the fraudsters and close the accounts of those who have dubious track records of where they got the money from.”

The EU’s decision to blacklist The Bahamas was based on an evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force and an additional evaluation by the EU.

An analysis was made which indicates that The Bahamas has a number of deficiencies in areas such as criminalization and convictions, customer due diligence in the financial sector, customer due diligence in the nonfinancial sector, powers of competent authorities, sanctions, international cooperation, beneficial ownership information, and targeted financial sanctions.

“The Bahamas is a particular stubborn case and that is the result of the evaluation that has been done,” Giegold said.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis and Attorney General Carl Bethel met with members of the European Union in Brussels, Belgium about the country’s involvement in international financial markets.

According to Giegold, solving the issues behind the analysis is more important than Bahamian politicians visiting Europe for meetings.

“For this, we don’t need meetings in Europe,” he said. “We want to see convictions and effective cooperation.”

Following the EU’s decision to blacklist The Bahamas, Bethel told the Senate that the government has addressed the concerns of the EU, which involves the criminalization of money laundering and terrorist financing by implementing the Proceeds of Crime Act (since 1996) and the Anti-Terrorism Act 2018.

Also, Bethel said the customer due diligence and record keeping requirements were addressed in the Financial Transactions Reporting Act 2018, and its predecessor law with the same name, since 2000.

But according to Giegold, passing laws isn’t sufficient, and he explained that The Bahamas must also demonstrate to the public and global community that laws are not only passed, but also applied rigorously.

“This means people who have broken rules such as due diligence, have opened offshore companies for criminal people, that they have to come to justice and the respective financial institutions lose their licenses. There must be real consequences of these laws and then you are credible,” he said, adding that there are also other measures that must be taken before The Bahamas is clean.

Giegold, who is also an economist with specialization in financial crimes, hopes The Bahamas would work cooperatively with the EU because the EU has no intentions of destroying the country’s financial services sector. He said the EU just wants The Bahamas to conduct business in accordance with globally agreed rules.

“Our subject is that you are a part of a global financial system, an important financial center, and at the same time do not respect the rules which go with open capital accounts. That is the basis,” he said.” Our cup of tea is, there are global rules and they have to be enforced regardless who is in government.”

Release: The Bahamas Press Club

For further information contact: Secretary Lindsay Thompson at (242) 434-5643. Email:thebahamaspressclub@gmail.com.

Website: www.bahamaspressclub.org

Photo Caption: Bahamas Press Club Member, broadcast journalist Deandrè Williamson attended the 7th World Conference Against Death Penalty, in Brussels from February 26 to March 1st, 2019. Pictured is European Union Member of Parliament Sven Giegold, who commented on Blacklisting as it relates to The Bahamas.

Bahamas News

Sister Province/Island Relationship Agreement Signed between Grand Bahama Island and Hunan Province

Published

4 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Deandrea Hamilton

By LLONELLA GILBERT
Bahamas Information Services

NASSAU, The Bahamas — A significant milestone was made in the development of bilateral relations between the Governments of The Bahamas and the People’s Republic of China by the signing of the Sister Province/Island Relationship Agreement between Grand Bahama Island and Hunan Province.

The signing took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. The Hon. Ginger Moxey, Minister for Grand Bahama; the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville, Minister of Health and Wellness; Kingsley Smith, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Grand Bahama and Joel Lewis, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Grand Bahama represented The Bahamas at the signing.

His Excellency Mao Weiming, Governor of Hunan Provincial People’s Government; Qu Hai, Secretary General of Hunan Provincial People’s Government; Cui Wei, Charge d’Affaires, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China; and Yang Peiran, Interpreter represented the People’s Republic of China.

Minister Moxey explained that in February 2022, she and the former Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas, Her Excellency Dai Qingli began discussion on the establishment of a province-island relationship between Hunan Province and Grand Bahama Island because of their “immense synergy”.

“Hunan has a vibrant creative industry and its capital city, Changsha is known as the entertainment capital of China, whilst Grand Bahama is poised to become the home of entertainment in ‘Our Bluepoint for Change’.”

She said Hunan Province boasts 11 industrial sectors and Grand Bahama is the industrial capital of The Bahamas. Further, innovation driven development has been a new driving force for Hunan, while Grand Bahama is poised to become the home of innovation for The Bahamas.

Minister Moxey said she is confident that an exchange of knowledge, ideas and culture will happen between the residents of Hunan Province and Grand Bahama.

“There is potential for robust trade in various sectors, opportunities for tourism promotion and intercultural appreciation, exchanges to support performing arts programs on our island, foster growth within the Orange Economy, and tap into China’s innovation, technology and vast expertise.”

She said that the formal signing aligns with the mission of Sister Cities International, which is to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation, one community at a time.

The Minister said, “Through collaborative programs and initiatives, this connection will support the government’s vision to diversity Grand Bahama’s economy to become the Home of Maritime and Logistics, Home of Events and Entertainment and Home of Innovation.”

She noted that in addition to signing the agreement, she looks forward to Grand Bahama residents benefitting from the signing of the Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding between Central South University and University of The Bahamas (UB), which will expand educational and technical cooperation between the two universities. The northern campus of UB is located in Grand Bahama.

His Excellency Mao Weiming said although geographically far apart, China and The Bahamas are friends with mutual respect and understanding as well as sincerity.

He explained that 27 years ago, both countries established diplomatic relations and China and The Bahamas have deepened their cooperation, strengthened their friendship and carried out many activities in the field of economy, trade and people-to-people exchange.

His Excellency recalled that in August 2022, he and Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance the Hon. Philip Davis had a video conference where they both reached a consensus to cooperate in order to usher a new chapter in the relationship between Hunan and The Bahamas.

“Today, we are here to sign a sister-to-sister relationship between Hunan and Grand Bahama. It is [a] concrete move to implement our consensus reached before and also to embark on a new journey of friendly exchanges.”

He added, “By establishing the relationship of sister cities, I believe the two sides will develop further in terms of economic and trade cooperation, people to people exchange, as well as friendship, and we will embrace new opportunities and deliver concrete benefits for the two peoples.”

He explained that Hunan, which is the home town of Chairman Mao, the founder of the People’s Republic of China, has developed very advanced industries of manufacturing, agriculture, education, culture as well as tourism.

His Excellency said he believes that Hunan and Grand Bahama enjoy very broad room for cooperation.

He said, “More efforts should be made to conduct cooperation in the fields of agriculture, tourism, culture, education and the film industry so as to realize a connectivity between our two sides in terms of logistics and the platform cooperation; so as to deliver concrete benefits for the people and to make our due contribution to the bilateral relationship between China and The Bahamas.”

PHOTO CAPTION

A significant milestone was made in the development of bilateral relations between the Governments of The Bahamas and the People’s Republic of China by the signing of the Sister Province/Island Relationship Agreement between Grand Bahama Island and Hunan Province. The signing took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Shown from left: Qu Hai, Secretary General of Hunan Provincial People’s Government; Cui Wei, Charge d’Affaires, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China; Yang Peiran, Interpreter H.E. Mao Weiming, Governor of Hunan Provincial People’s Government; the Hon. Ginger Moxey, Minister for Grand Bahama; the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville, Minister of Health and Wellness; Kingsley Smith, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Grand Bahama and Joel Lewis, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Grand Bahama.

(BIS Photos/Anthon Thompson)

Bahamas News

Nassau Cruise Port Donates Nearly $2 Million Towards Food Security

Published

4 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Deandrea Hamilton

Nassau, Bahamas: The Nassau Cruise Port has donated $1.95 million towards projects that will assist the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources in its aim to increase food security for The Bahamas.

The donation officially occurred at the Ministry’s offices recently, where Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Hon. Jomo Campbell, Minister of Labour Hon. Pia Glover-Rolle, Permanent Secretary Neil Campbell and Nassau Cruise Port CEO Mike Maura listened to a number of presentations including one for a poultry programme for schools, a chicken broiler production programme, the redevelopment of the Blue Hill Road Farmers Market and an Authentic Bahamian Cultural Concept Store,

Mr. Maura said he was impressed by the presentations.

“I had the privilege to listen to the presentations and review presentations that touched on food security and the need for us to be self-sufficient, which as a Bahamian I support completely. At the Nassau Cruise Port, we get excited about the prospects of offering more authentic food to the millions of visitors that we have each year,” he said.

“And then, in addition to that, we had presentations around the further development of our artisans, which is so important to us as well. The guests visiting our shores are looking for something that really touches The Bahamas and can’t be found somewhere else. The Nassau Cruise Port has made a pledge to BAIC and its affiliates. We will be supporting the projects that were presented and we can’t wait to get started.”

Minister Glover-Rolle, who is also the Member of Parliament for Golden Gates, hailed Nassau Cruise Port as a “great community partner.”

“Thank you for the opportunity to not only present but agreeing to participate. Our Minister of Agriculture has a goal of reducing food imports by 25 percent by the year 2025 and our project in the Golden Gates Community speaks to that,” she said.

“We have a number of backyard farmers, farmers and fishers in our community in Golden Gates. Being able to use the Blue Hill Road Farmers Market, which is going to be dubbed the ‘Fish Fry of the South,’ as a hub for food security but also a hub where artisans and handicraft persons can come and sell their wares is wonderful. So, we are happy that you have agreed to partner with us and we look forward to a partnership and we hope to welcome some of your visitors when this amazing renovation is done.”

Minister Campbell also lauded the Nassau Cruise Port for its efforts.

“I would like to say thank you to the presenters for the presentations that are several steps in the right direction for our country, to Mr. Maura and his board at the Nassau Cruise Port and I would like to say thanks to God for this partnership and bringing us all together as we move forward, upward, together in building a better, brighter, future for The Bahamas,” he said.

Bahamas News

Royal Caribbean Club in The Bahamas started after delays

Published

22 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Shanieka

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

#TheBahamas#RoyalCaribbean, April 23, 2024- After being delayed following its announcement in 2020, Royal Caribbean’s new 17 acre Royal Beach Club on Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas, is now in the works and is scheduled to be ready for 2025, according to reports. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Monday April 22, signifying the start of construction in the next few months. This project is huge for The Bahamas as it’s a first of kind for the nation, with a unique public private partnership allowing Bahamians to hold up to 49 percent in equity.