, frequency, and granularity of data, we are prompted to implement regulatory technology ( regtech ) and supervisory technology ( suptech ) in our financial sector supervision to increase our effectiveness and efficiency. in our aim to preserve and foster the reputation of curacao as a sound, transparent, attractive, and reputable international financial center, we strive to achieve institutional agility and adaptability to guide our financial sector into this new, technology - driven, era. research has shown that over 85 % of global fintech ’ s are directed toward or related to the financial services business. this suggests that the financial services industry, especially the international banking sector, will most likely be considerably disrupted in the upcoming years. considering that innovation and new financial technologies transcend borders and markets in which international banks operate, we should take charge in shaping the future of regional and global financial services provision. ladies and gentlemen, it is imperative that i underscore that the cbcs is committed to fight money laundering and terrorist financing, and will continue to provide guidance for the financial sector to combat these abusive and illicit practices within our jurisdiction. the cbcs is currently updating the aml / cft provisions & guidelines ( p & g ). in addition, the cbcs, the financial intelligence unit curacao ( fiu ), and the gaming control board ( gcb ) have agreed to meet on a quarterly basis to provide a platform to monitor trends, local threats and vulnerabilities, and new developments in the area of aml / cft. in 2022 our jurisdiction will be subject to the fourth round mutual evaluation by cfatf. a vital part in the preparation for this mutual evaluation is the national risk assessment ( nra ) to identify, analyze, understand, and address aml / tf risks in curacao. the nra is on track to be completed by the end of 2019 which provides our jurisdiction sufficient time to be duly prepared for the next cfatf evaluation. allow me to close with the following statement : “ it is always better to be compliant than be sorry ”. i thank you for your attention and wish you a fruitful seminar.

ifs sector came to a halt with the termination of the tax treaty with the united states and the abolishment of the u. s. foreign withholding tax in 1985. in addition, the sector was also negatively affected by other developments, such as the negative connotation of global tax planning and increased bundling as tax - exempt region. over the past years, however, curacao has taken several measures to meet international standards. one of the main measures taken was the enactment of a new fiscal regime in 2002 to be in full compliance with the policies of the organization for economic cooperation and development ( oecd ) for fair tax practices. the new tax regime was created in line with the recommendations offered by the oecd, to avoid being labeled as a jurisdiction with harmful tax practices, and thus was intended to avert inclusion on the oecd ’ s ‘ black - list ’ of non - transparent offshore jurisdictions in 2000. ladies and gentlemen, let us now continue with the main challenges the ifs sector is facing. with the implementation of global regulatory standards, including anti - money laundering ( “ aml ” ) and combatting financing of terrorism ( “ cft ” ) rules, banks have faced increased compliance costs in providing correspondent banking relations. in addition, tax information - sharing agreements that also result in more costs for the banks have added to the de - risking trend, which resulted in the ending of correspondent banking relations. both the domestic banking sector and the international financial services sector in the caribbean face this challenge. a correspondent banking relation is crucial for financial institutions in the caribbean, given their limited access to foreign financial markets. furthermore, without a correspondent banking relation, caribbean financial institutions cannot properly service clients ’ accounts. recently, many correspondent banks have terminated their relations because of the high perceived risks of the caribbean and latin american region. in the monetary union of curacao and sint maarten, however, the cbcs has informed correspondent banks on the effective implementation of aml - cft regulations, and positive assessments of the caribbean financial action task force ( cfatf ), which have led to favorable results. for example, jp morgan has recently reinstated its correspondent relation with two major banks in curacao. the cbcs is continuing with its efforts toward correspondent relations to attain more of these favorable results, and thus minimize the de - risking effects. the cbcs has always been active in promoting financial stability and minimizing risks via sound prudential and