United People’s (UP) party leader Rolando Brison deserves credit for promoting and seeing through legislation (see related story) ensuring that every resident can get a basic bank account. That is presently not the case due primarily to so-called “de-risking” to meet standards of correspondent banks used for international transactions.
The latter are protecting themselves from mega fines for breaking ever-tighter anti-money-laundering and -terrorism-financing rules of the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation (OEDC), Financial Action Task Force (FATF), etcetera. However, this led to a situation where a growing number of persons were having trouble opening an account.
That will now change, according to the coalition member whose motion initiated the bill reportedly vetted by the Finance Ministry, Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS), Advisory Council and – ultimately – Governor. Not only must banks provide such a current account allowing for digital payments, they need to do so within 10 working days.
Let’s face it, something had to give. Even personnel of government-licensed businesses like a lottery office are being paid in and living on cash because the gambling sector is considered a liability.
However, the proposed new amendment requiring businesses that apply for such accounts to have a local managing director or shareholder of at least 51% seems controversial and potentially discriminatory at best. Perhaps it is better to study this part some more first.
Any entity operating legally in a country should be able to bank there and that certainly goes for all law-abiding citizens. Financial inclusion is essential to the development of a people as well as to enhance fiscal compliance.
If there are doubts about money sources these should be dealt with specifically via, among others, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and Prosecutor’s Office OM, rather than maintaining a restrictive policy based on generalisation and assumption.
