The Securities Commission of The Bahamas facilitated special training for more than 100 employees of financial services regulators and various government agencies with the assistance of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week.

The commission, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, held the Capital Markets Development and Oversight Training Programme August 11-14 at the British Colonial Hilton.

In her remarks at the opening of the programme, commission chairman Tonya Bastian Galanis said: “The training was the first of its kind to be organized and hosted by the commission and was geared toward increasing the technical capacity of the commission’s staff and to ultimately improve its oversight function and support the orderly development of the Bahamian capital markets.”

Bastian Galanis observed that the training programme, “signaled to the international community the commission’s commitment to mutual assistance in detecting and deterring cross-border financial crime”.

She added that one of the objectives of the session was to underscore the significance of this commitment and provide an understanding of the Commission’s obligations under the International Organization of Securities Commissions’ information sharing framework.

The commission’s executive director Christina Rolle, told participants the regulatory oversight training would enhance the commission’s capacity to fulfill its role as the regulator of the investment funds, securities and capital markets, which is an essential for economic development.

“All of us in this room have a shared interest in protecting the value of our investments and seeing a growing, diversified economy that produces jobs and improves the standard of living,” Rolle told participants.

“The proper functioning of our organizations is integral to promoting the ideal environment for the capital formation necessary to sustain industry and economic growth. When the capital markets are stable and well-regulated and when, as a result, investors trust the integrity of the markets, investments can flow freely in the economy with goals of facilitating capital investment and contributing to the gross domestic product of the country.”

Ensuring that other financial services regulators and government agencies could access the experience and knowledge of the US SEC presenters while they were in The Bahamas was one of the goals of the programme.

A special session was held for the Commission’s constituents in the investment funds, securities and capital markets and financial and corporate services providers. The session focused on anti-money laundering and building an effective compliance programme.