Caribbean Times 100th Issue - Friday 17th February 2017

4 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g
Friday 17th February 2017
PM Browne gets kudos from CARICOM Leaders
Prime Minister, Hon. Gaston
Browne, who is leading Antigua and
Barbuda’s delegation to the 28th Intercessional
Meeting of Caribbean
Community (CARICOM) leaders now
underway in Guyana, has been commended
by his colleagues for his handling
of the De-risking issue.
“We congratulate you on your stewardship
and advocacy of the Caribbean
cause regarding the importance of correspondence
banking,” Chairman of
Conference, President David Granger
of Guyana told PM Browne. The sentiment
was also echoed by several other
colleague heads of government.
PM Browne, who was appointed
the lead prime minister on this particular
subject, presented a report of his
stewardship to the meeting on Thursday.
Sources close to the meeting said
PM Browne described the corresponding
bank relations or de-risking issue
as ‘one of the most significant threats
facing the region at this time’.
He reported that the CARICOM
countries adopted a unified approach
to tackling the issue and they implemented
a number of initiatives to confront
the threat.
Among the strategies, he recalled,
was a meeting in Antigua last October
that brought together a number of
stakeholders in a forum to map out a
plan of action for the region.
According to the prime minister the
meeting was attended by the governors
of regional central banks as well
as others associated with the issue.
But he noted that whilst invitations
were sent to regulators from the United
States, they stayed away from the
meeting.
PM Browne opined that their absence
may have been out of concern
that the forum would have been a
‘shame and blame’ exercise.
The prime minister also reported
that a follow-up meeting was held in
Trinidad with attendance from organisations
such as the International Monetary
Fund.
cont’d on pg 5