Addressing a regional symposium on US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), Prime Minister Perry Christie praised the financial services industry for its role in the country’s economic development, and said that the sector will soon be adding new offerings, such as arbitration and yacht and airplane registries.

Delivering the keynote address at yesterday’s Complying with FATCA regional conference where more than ten countries from around the Caribbean region were represented, the Prime Minister said: “Critical to the survival of our countries is the need to periodically assess our strengths. My government is not complacent. The Bahamas is taking stock and promoting the depth and width of our commercial services [and] we will expand those offerings.”

The conference, held at the British Colonial Hilton in Nassau, brought together financial professionals from across the region to hear from representatives from the US Treasury and Internal Revenue Service. The aim of the event was to provide information on FATCA, which was enacted in January this year and will come into full force from next year.

Under FATCA every foreign financial institution (FFI) with US accounts will be forced to disclose information on those accounts to the US Treasury.

The Prime Minister said the new regulations were indicative of the global trend towards greater transparency, telling the audience: “We meet today in The Bahamas to discuss a subject that is of great significance to our country at a time when the financial services industry is at a global crossroads. [We must] wade through the disquiet and flux of new rules and new standards.”

“It is my hope that from these changes we begin to find new opportunities for cooperation between countries.”

cmorris@dupuch.com