Caribbean bankers to discuss impact of financial crisis at meeting in Barbados
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| Published on Monday, November 17, 2008 |
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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Representatives of the region's indigenous banks will meet in Barbados from Monday and the global financial crisis will be among the list of items on their agenda.
Chairman of the CAIB and managing director of Republic Bank Guyana Michael Archibald says this year’s conference, which is being held under the theme “Safeguarding our Future in the Face of Global Economic Challenges”, will focus on several issues, including risk management, anti-money laundering practices, and counter terrorist financing.
He added that the conference is aimed at keeping its members abreast of recent developments in the financial world.
He said that one of the greatest challenges now being faced by all, not just banks, is the global meltdown in the financial markets of the developed countries.
Meanwhile, member of the board of directors of the association and credit director of Republic Bank Guyana, John Tracey, says the economies in which they operate will be affected, and to that extent they will be affected, not in terms of profitability, but in terms of volume of business that they do. For instance, Tracey asserted, people remit money to their relatives here, and it goes into the cambio system.
“We may expect to see less of that; so, to that extent, the challenges that are posed to our customers will come through to the banks.” According to Tracey, there is the annual general meeting that takes place before the conference, and this year is election year for the association.
He added that Guyana’s term of office will be up in November, and there will be a new chairman of the association, which should come from what is called the North Caribbean.
“Guyana had the chair representing the entire South Caribbean, now I think it moves to the North Caribbean. Some bank, preferably from Jamaica, will hold the chair for the next two years.”
According to Tracey, there is a training session as part of the conference, and this will be held on the first day.
That training session, he added, is going to be focused on Enterprise Risk Management.
“Risk management and risk is something that is of increasing importance to all and sundry…You’ve got to know how to manage your risk because we take risks, and we cannot avoid taking risks, because no risk, no reward. But it’s how you manage that risk.”
He added that they will be focusing on providing some training for senior executives of their member banks to bring them up to speed with the latest techniques of risk management.
Tracey said that the CAIB has been in partnership with Florida International Bankers Association (FIBA), and they recently ran a training programme in Trinidad on anti-money laundering.
“We will focus again on anti-money laundering practices and finding out what are the latest techniques that are being used by these various people to launder money.”
CAIB is a community of locally incorporated/owned banks and other financial institutions in the Caribbean/CARICOM Region, which provide opportunities for discussion on issues impacting the indigenous banking/financial services community as well as for the sharing of experiences and networking.
The Association comprises 50 member banks/financial institutions, three honourary members, namely the Caribbean Development Bank, CARICOM, and the Caribbean Centre for Monetary Studies; and 10 service members.
The total asset base of the members is in excess of US$18.5 billion.
From this common platform, indigenous banks and financial bodies seek to influence regional financial services policies as well as other issues which have implications for the sector, such as the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). It also facilitates Caribbean/CARICOM indigenous banks' and financial institutions' intervention and participation in the global network of similar institutions. | | | | Reads : 1118 |
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