Belize Faces Pressure to Keep Banks Compliant

Belize wrapped up a three-day AML/CFT conference today, as global watchdogs keep a close eye on the country’s financial system. The stakes are high, Belize needs clean, compliant banking to pay for imports, medical care abroad, and tuition for students overseas. Banking officials say the pressure is constant, and any slip could shake the entire financial sector. News Five spoke with Heritage Bank’s Managing Director Steven Duncan about what Belize must do to stay connected to the world’s banking network.

 

Steven Duncan, Managing Director, Heritage Bank

“The global sort of check on how you are doing, whether you should be part of the system or not, they test using AML/CFT capabilities and how you measure up in those areas. How you measure up in those areas is important to us as a country beyond just a bank. In fact, the bank is specifically important because a bank could bring down a country. So you want to make sure that not just the country as a whole, but that the subparts, the individual components of the country, also measure up. That is why it is very important.”

 

Paul Lopez

“Some criticisms may be that the protocols to adhere to these regulations that they come about as bureaucratic red tapes that frustrate the process customers have to go through.”

 

Steven Duncan

“I feel that way too and I will not disagree with such a position. What I will ask is that the general public be patient and understanding because these things we are doing are bigger than just the country. And while we may not like everything about it, they are frustrating and add to the bureaucracy, the truth is, if we want to play in the global environment we have to do them.”

 

Duncan says that while the rules can feel frustrating, Belize has little choice, staying compliant is the only way to keep the country fully connected to the global banking system.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

Watch the full newscast here: