David Burt, the Premier, will be in Barbados today to participate in the Caribbean Financial Access Roundtable.

He was invited there by Mia Amor Mottley, the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in Barbados.

The Roundtable is co-hosted by the Barbados Government and Maxine Waters, chairwoman of the US House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.

Mr Burt will be joined by the acting financial secretary and CFATF chairwoman, Cheryl Lister, chief executive officer of Clarien Bank Ian Truran and the director of banking, trust, corporate service and investments for the Bermuda Monetary Authority, Ashley Kibblewhite.

Also in attendance at the financial summit will be senior representatives of American and Canadian banks, Caricom heads of government, the Caricom and Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States secretaries-general and the president of the Caribbean Development Bank.

Today’s event follows discussions that took place in Washington in 2019 before the pandemic to tackle the challenges that small island states, such as Bermuda, are facing with correspondent banking due to de-risking activities of US banks.

In addition to de-risking, matters being discussed include the scope and impact of European Union listing initiatives and actions to address the changing international standards to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

“Bermuda’s banks have faced issues with correspondent banking relationships and these challenges have hindered efforts to diversify our economy in areas like fintech and gaming,” Mr Burt said.

“It is important that we continue to engage leaders in the United States and Caricom to resolve these issues which unfairly target small island states. This meeting is an excellent opportunity to discuss these and other important matters with key decision makers while we also highlight Bermuda’s financial services sector’s leadership in combating money laundering.”