Practitioners in Nevis’ Financial Services Industry urged to protect businesses; jurisdiction

Photo caption: Hon. Vance Amory, Premier of Nevis and Minister of Finance in the Nevis Island Administration delivering an address at the opening ceremony of the Nevis Financial Services (Regulatory and Supervision) Department’s 2017 Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Financing of Terrorism Awareness Seminar and Training Workshop, at the Four Seasons Resort on March 07, 2017

NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (March 06, 2017) — Premier of Nevis and Minister of Finance Hon. Vance Amory, appealed to financial service industry practitioners on Nevis to endeavour to do all they could to safeguard the jurisdiction because of the industry’s importance to the island’s economy.

Mr. Amory’s appeal came while delivering an address at the opening ceremony of a two-day Nevis Financial Services (Regulatory and Supervision) Department’s 2017 Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Awareness Seminar and Training Workshop, at the Four Seasons Resort on March 07, 2017. The seminar’s theme is “Increasing Awareness through Smarter Compliance- Forging New Connections to Combat Financial Crime.”

“This industry means a very great dear to the Nevis Island Administration. Roughly, we collected last year, over $12 million from this industry and that is on the bare number, 10 percent of the annual budget…

“We as practitioners and as government, we have a responsibility which we must take seriously…each person has that responsibility to ensure that we do things well and that we do so efficiently,” he said.

Mr. Amory assured that Nevis Island Administration (NIA) would continue to do what is necessary to promote the jurisdiction.

The Finance Minister said officers of the Nevis Investment Promotion Authority, have been instructed to work closely with the providers to give whatever assistance need. In turn, the providers would assist with promoting the jurisdiction and helping to expand the industry. The objective is for an increase in good quality business over time, which would not impair the jurisdiction and result in benefits.

Mr. Amory said there are challenges confronting the jurisdiction. However, it is important that practitioners are equipped with the necessary knowledge, skill and determination to continue to address them as they arise.

He added that the challenges, should provide opportunities to prove that as practitioners in the financial services, they are prepared to follow the rules and not bend them under any circumstance which could be detrimental to the jurisdiction or to themselves.

Photo caption: A section of participants at the Nevis Financial Services (Regulatory and Supervision) Department’s 2017 Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Financing of Terrorism Awareness Seminar and Training Workshop, at the Four Seasons Resort on March 07, 2017

“You are also aware, of the importance to us of ensuring that our individual businesses do not suffer any detriment because of any action, on our part, which would impair our following of the due process. That clearly lies with the business, the director the manager and so on to ensure that the matter of compliance, the way in which your staff functions, that they are trained and they are capable of providing and performing the duties of effective, efficient compliance officers,” Mr. Amory said.

The Finance Minister also told the practitioners that they should establish connections and networks to share information among regulated entities, to ensure that they are operating on the same page, following a common reporting standard and not doing things that would impair their businesses or the jurisdiction.

“Such a network formed into an association, in a way, could become a self-regulating body would give significant assistance to the regulation department, and would enable us to know that we have a partnership between the government regulatory services and the private sector – you who are the ones engaging in the business,” he said.

Regulator at the Department Ms. Heidi-Lynn Sutton delivered remarks. The invocation was done by Mr. James Simpson, Regulator of International Banking.

Facilitators for the two-day seminar are Mr. Stephen Platt of Stephen Platt & Associates, LLP, Mr. Trevor Brathwaite, Deputy Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, Mr. Les Khan, Chief Executive Officer of the Citizenship By Investment Unit in St. Kitts and Nevis, Mr. Quincy Prentice, Director of the Information Technology Department in the NIA and Inspector James Sutton of the White Collar Crime Unit in the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force.

END