Fifty-two years after Majority Rule, Former Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes says while he is proud of the country’s progress, he is concerned about some of the issues the country faces today, namely in the Financial Services Sector.
Appearing as a guest on the Love 97 Radio programme Jones and Company, Sir Arthur described the treatment of the sector by international agencies like the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Union, (EU) as a form of imperialism.
He said, “I can understand you asking us to do laws that everybody agrees with and to avoid criminal activity, but for you to impose on me conditions that you don’t impose on yourself, and threaten to destroy me or to destroy a part of my economy for that, that’s imperialism.”
Sir Arthur said that he believes the answer to all of this must me regional.
He added, “this s a matter for all small countries around the world that we ought to be at common cause with in certain things, but again, they’re mesmerized by the big power.”
One of the government’s proposed bills facing backlash last year was the Non-Profit Organizations Bill.
In fact, a number of public figures and NPO’s voiced their concerns over the bill asking to clarify whether political parties would be included under this jurisdiction and why the government needs the names of an organization’s top 10 donors.
This bill was among a compendium of bills that are expected establish new regulations to govern the Financial Services Sector.
According to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest, the bills are also expected to bring the country in line with rules set by the (OECD) and the (EU), which have threatened to blacklist The Bahamas.
Mr. Turnquest just last month said that they represent another plank in The Bahamas’ tax transparency regime and send a message to the international business community, including the EU, that The Bahamas is open for legitimate business.
Minister Turnquest, back in November, also said that an imbalance of pressure and scrutiny from the international regulatory framework tops external concerns facing the regional financial sector.
He added that countries in the region continue to be discredited due to negative perceptions, which do not accurately reflect the current strength of their local regulatory regimes.
He said that the consequences that black and gray lists have on correspondent banking at the micro level, and economic stability at the macro level, needs to be measured and rationalized.
