Richard Doornbosch: Correspondent bank relations in Curaçao - no quick fixes available

Keynote speech by Mr Richard Doornbosch, President of the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten, at the IBA-CBA-CIFA information session, Willemstad, 16 June 2022.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Accompanying slides

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Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.

It is an honor to be here among the finest of Curaçao's local and international banking sector, as well as the international financial services sector.

It's a pleasure to see IBA, CBA and CIFA work together in the interest of Curaçao as an International Financial Center. In particular, I would like to thank the International Bankers' association, and its chairman Lionel Anthony, for the conversations about today's topic and the invitation to elaborate on our position on correspondent banking and the de-risking trend in our region.

There is growing recognition in policy and banking circles that the regulatory treatment of correspondent banking is out-of-balance. A year ago, the Economist stated on the cover of its weekly 'The war against money-laundering is being lost'. The global system for financial crime is hugely expensive and largely ineffective' they continued. I am surprised you haven't yet started cheering.