Experts Hail Barbados’ Removal from Global Watchlists

• Recent confirmations from Minister of Finance, Ryan Straughn, that Barbados has successfully cleared all international financial watchlists, are being hailed by industry leaders as a monumental victory for the nation’s reputation.
• While the government celebrates this “clean slate”, economic experts and private sector leaders believe the island will reap immediate tangible benefits after being removed from the “grey lists” of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the European Union.
• Director and Senior Research Fellow of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, Professor, Dr Don Marshall, maintains that the benefits of this status are felt almost immediately within the economy, primarily through the stabilisation of existing business and the attraction of new foreign investment.
• While the removal has been a progressive process since last year, the cumulative effect is a significant reduction in “friction” for cross-border trade, noted Carmel Haynes, executive director of the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA). For the private sector, the removal from these lists translates to a direct reduction in the cost and complexity of daily operations, with enhanced due diligence by international financial institutions previously increasing the cost of doing business.
• ​The delisting meaningfully improves Barbados’ investment case in the near term, particularly by lowering transaction frictions and supporting FX inflows. Its durability will depend on sustained enforcement capacity. To ensure Barbados does not find itself back on a watchlist in the coming years, Haynes stressed that the government has moved from simply passing laws to active, technology-driven enforcement. ​“They’ve brought in new technological systems for reporting and recording, and they’ve increased penalties… to ensure that the sector is better regulated.”

 (Source: Barbados Today)