DeLisle Worrell: Changes impacting Barbados' competitive market
position
Remarks by Dr DeLisle Worrell, Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, at the opening of
the International Business and Financial Sector Conference, Bridgetown, 15 March 2012.
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This conference takes place at an extremely challenging time for the international business
and financial sector (IBFS). In addition to the adverse effects of ongoing global uncertainty,
we have to cope with swiftly changing international regulatory guidance, and with changes in
law and practices abroad that may affect Barbados' competitive position in the market. We
have had to confront major changes in the IBFS sector before, and we will overcome them
on this occasion, just as we have done in the past. To achieve this, we must be proactive,
both in the public and private sectors.
We are already embarked on the process of strengthening our framework of regulation of the
financial sector, to ensure that it stays abreast of the most current guidance and best
practices. The Central Bank is coordinating an exercise which will lead to a comprehensive
review, via an IMF/World Bank Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP), to be
conducted next year. We, the regulators, will work together with you to ensure that the FSAP
certifies us as being on par with the foremost international financial centres worldwide. This
year is devoted to perfecting our systems and legislation, so that we can do our own
selfassessment. As always, any changes will be fully ventilated and discussed with you. Some of
you will have participated in previous FSAPs, and you know that when the assessment
teams come to visit, they will interview a sample of financial institutions, to have your views.
Please communicate with us now on things that we need to address, so that next year you
will be able to affirm that we are up to best international standards in every way.
It is vital that we track all aspects of international developments affecting the IBFS sector. To
this end, the Central Bank last month launched a quarterly electronic newsletter, available on
our website. I urge you to take a look, if you have not done so already, and to look out for
forthcoming issues in May, August and November. The newsletter aims to facilitate
networking, and we welcome your contributions and reactions to the material. The February
issue deals with Caribbean involvement with the Financial Stability Board, the body
overseeing international financial reform; the Financial Action Task Force on Anti money
laundering (AML), a proposal for a new international IFC forum, tax information exchange
agreements (TIEAs) and Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs) and legislation. The briefs
which appear in the newsletter are, as you will see, contributed by your colleagues in the
industry, as well as by officials. We urge you to submit your own views and information, in
reaction to what you read in the newsletter, as well as original material.
The dialogue which this conference permits is very important in helping to craft fruitful
responses to the changing international environment. We the regulators need to be
continuously updated on the opportunities and interests that you the active agents see for
yourselves, and the mechanisms that will facilitate your activities. You all need to understand
the requirements for maintaining a first class financial centre, so that you can plan your
strategies accordingly. In the end, both sides have the same objective, to cement the
international reputation of Barbados' financial centre by attracting only the best run
companies to our shores.
We welcome you all to this second annual IBFS conference. We have an agenda that is
focussed on the issues that are most current, and we have an opportunity here to continue
our public-private sector dialogue on the way forward. We have the collective will, and today
we expect to further dialogue and investigate the ways by which we can further expand the
IBFS sector.