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BAHAMAS
The Bahamas: A Financial Centre Built to Last
Dr. Tanya C McCartney
CEO and Executive Director, Bahamas Financial Services Board
For years The Bahamas, like many other jurisdictions, have been ‘running against the wind’ as the headwinds of successive global regulatory initiatives blow hard against the financial services landscape, seemingly intent on eroding competitive advantage and ability to lead the way in the international financial services marketplace.
While The Bahamas confronts forward and rearguard actions by G7 and other international bodies that threaten to impede its sustainability as a financial centre, the jurisdiction continues to persevere and move ahead, unperturbed by these efforts and focused on remaining compliant in delivering exceptional service and bespoke client solutions. It has been more than twenty years since the heavyweights of the world’s economic order began to impose rules that pose an existential threat to core elements of the economies of developing countries such as The Bahamas. Some of these actions were admittedly required. However, uniform global implementation and imposition of consequences for failing to comply remained uneven, with small developing states feeling most of the pressure. Nonetheless, The Bahamas with its limited resources makes every effort to meet these standards. It can now boast of being one of very few countries in the world to be compliant with all forty Recommendations of the Fin…
The Effective Estate Plan
It’s been said before, and I’ll say it again: There are over 200 banks and trust companies in The Ba…
BAHAMAS
Navigating The Digital Frontier: The Bahamas' Approach To Regulating Digital Assets
The rapid emergence of digital assets and cryptocurrencies has presented many challenges for regulators in the global financial sector. Recognising the need for a robust regulatory framework to bring legal clarity to this dynamic, evolving space, The Bahamas has taken a progressive approach to the regulation of digital assets. This article explores the rationale behind The Bahamas’ decision to regulate digital assets, the development of the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges (DARE) Act, 2020, and the key provisions shaping the regulatory landscape that influenced the new DARE Bill, 2023, which we anticipate will become law this year.
The Path Toward Regulation
The Securities Commission of The Bahamas, (the Commission), the statutory regulator for the nation's capital markets, began developing legislation for digital assets in 2018 after monitoring the industry's rapid growth over several years. The Commission took a thoughtful, deliberate approach to determining what threats, if any, the space represented. The Commission was faced with several considerations including the lack of legal definition and a globally agreed taxonomy for digital assets, as well as what its overarching approach to digital assets in or from within the jurisdiction would be.
First and foremost, The Bahamas had to determine whether it wanted to: (1) allow digital asset businesses to operate within the jurisdiction without a specific regulatory framework; (2) develop a specific regulatory framework to ensure that all digital assets and digital asset activities fall within the perimeters of the regulator’s scope; or (3) prohibit digital asset…
