“With the passing of the new financial laws, we introduced very strict standards in terms of account documentation and so when the laws were passed the Central Bank introduced new regulations which then required these accounts to be compliant based on certain criteria,” said Paul McWeeney, chairman of the Clearing Banks Association.
Under the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, all bank account holders must have their accounts verified by October 1.
Banks are now requesting that customers who have not yet done so to bring in various documents to verify their accounts.
Those banks include Bank of The Bahamas Limited, Citibank, Commonwealth Bank, Fidelity Bank Bahamas, First Caribbean International Bank, Scotiabank and Royal Bank of Canada.
In accordance with section 6(6) of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act 2000, the following documents in addition to your bankﾒs verification documentation are required for updating personal accounts: a current photo, a valid passport, a driverﾒs license or voterﾒs card.
Also required for verification of address is a voterﾒs card, utility bill, national insurance card or a bank or credit card statement.
According to Mr. McWeeney many customers have already complied by bringing in their documents. However, he said there are still many who have not.
“A substantial amount of customer accounts have been verified and certainly what we would term high-risk accounts are verified. [The accounts that need to be verified] are the isolated accounts in banks where persons have not come forward and brought in the necessary documentation to make their account compliant with the new regulation,” Mr. McWeeney said.
“What has happened is the Central Bank has put in place a specific deadline which ends this week which ensures that all accounts within the system are compliant with the documentation elements of that new regulation.”
The Associationﾒs chairman explained that a high-risk account does not mean the account has lots of money; it could be someone in the community with significant profile, which warrants high risk.
Mr. McWeeney said that this does not necessarily mean the person is “bad”; it just means the risk associated with that account is significant in the assessment criteria of the respective bank.
Persons in non-compliance at the end of this week will have their accounts frozen and will be unable to access their account until the necessary documentation is supplied.
“Once they come in and make their account compliant they would certainly then have access to their account and be able to conduct their banking affairs,” Mr. McWeeney said.
He explained that there are no further instructions from the Central Bank for account holders who do not come back to access their accounts. He said the funds would remain on those dormant accounts.
“We have to recognize that this action is really made to better improve and safeguard the integrity of the system. As persons bring in documentation that can better verify who they are, it makes our job a lot easier in protecting their accounts against unsuspecting persons out there,” Mr. McWeeney said.
With this requirement being in place for over two years and the previous extension dates being extended to this week, Mr. McWeeney said he feels that the banking community has had sufficient notice to make the accounts compliant.
He said he believes this is the final time that the Central Bank plans to extend the deadline.
By: Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
