Bank of
The Bahamas today laid to rest fears raised by a news story that cited a
note in the bank’s annual report pointing to a potential weakness in
detecting revenue sources.
In a statement, the bank noted that the report cited predated the
completion of a project to implement a dual-process monitoring system.
The system is among the best in class available in the world and was
designed using carefully developed rules based on
anti-money laundering (AML) legislation, regulations and international
best practices to alert the bank of any attempts of money laundering and
terrorist financing.
“As the pressure mounts on all banks to be ever more vigilant about the
ongoing monitoring of customer relationships, we at Bank of The Bahamas
have been fully committed to identifying
the best processes available to enhance our control environment,” the
bank statement continued. “This has been an ongoing process leading to
the implementation of our Anti-Money Laundering Solution which was
completed in December of 2015.
The points noted in the report were actively addressed by the bank. The
installation of that system, representing a very significant investment,
took about nine months. This, together with well trained staff at every
level, represents for Bank of The Bahamas
a very robust AML infrastructure aimed at efficiently monitoring and
identifying suspicious activities.
“BOB’s anti-money laundering infrastructure is solid and meets the
strictest compliance regulations,” said the bank. “The proof is in our
partnerships. We have relationships with four correspondent banks in the
U.S., Canada and Germany. When one has an appreciation
for the rigorous process involved, from a compliance perspective, to
meet and keep such relationships, it should readily be understood that
the same could not be possible were there any weakness in our machinery.
But we also fully appreciate that this is not
something you do once and think done. Combating money laundering is an
ongoing process that requires constant vigil and BOB remains fully
committed to that process.”