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The Law as Stated Under the Central Bank of the Bahamas Act 2000 |
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The Central Bank of the Bahamas Act 2000 was created to govern all activities regarding banking within the Bahamas. The Central Bank is also regulated by the Banks and Trust Companies Regulation Act 1965.
One of the many concerns of these regulating bodies is the application for banking licensure. Such licenses are either unrestricted which is public and restricted which allows only offering of banking services to permanent specified clients. Requirements to be fulfilled in order to acquire banking licensure are detailed control structures proposal, a list of much needed information, financial statements included in business plans extending to 5 years and an interview to be held at the Central Bank. These financial statements shall then be required to be annually filed after the approval of the licensure.
The banking licenses shall determine the minimum capital needed for a specific type of bank and the standard of exchange concerned with its type of operation. For public banks, a minimum of $2M as capital and maintenance of its growth in proportion to 5% of the assets or 8% of the risk assets is required. On the other hand, only a minimum of $100,000 is required as capital for restricted banking establishments.
Once licensure is approved, banks are placed under the supervision of the Central Bank of the Bahamas Act 2000. This includes inspection of the banks, supportive communication between offshore regulating bodies and the Central Bank and cross-border regulation.
Bahamas has been found to be 1 of the 15 jurisdictions that have insufficient counteractions in cases of money laundering. Due to this, Bahamas’ Bank and Trust Company Regulations was revised, thus entailing physical presence of all licenses within Bahamas. Maintenance of records now needs to be done locally. This means that offshore companies must comply within 3 years to these additional requirements.
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