Plans Will Be Put in Place to Address High Bank Charges

Finance and Public Service Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw, says the Government is committed to implementing a time-bound action plan to stop the predatory charges and fees by financial institutions.

He said the plan will include a review of the Banking Services Act and entrenchment of the Bank of Jamaica Code of Conduct for deposit-taking institutions, which was introduced in September 2017.

The measures will also entail the formal establishment of a financial consumer protection entity, either as a separate agency or as a division of the Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC).

Minister Shaw was opening the 2018/2019 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on March 8 under the theme: ‘Stability, Growth and Prosperity – Our Goal, Our Responsibility.’

Meanwhile, he informed that during 2017/2018, Jamaica made significant progress in countering the threat of international correspondent banks cutting ties with local financial institutions.

Steps were taken to reduce the risk of being associated with transactions that are inconsistent with anti-money laundering/ combating the financing of terrorism.

The success of the measures, Minister Shaw said, were “reflected in the low incidence of reduced access to correspondent banking services.  These advances are important, but we should not lose sight of the need to remain vigilant in this regard.”