Caricom Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque has noted that some provisions of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) have implications for the banks and financial institutions in the region.
The Secretary-General, speaking to leaders of the Washington, D.C, United States-based Caribbean Diaspora on Tuesday, pointed out that the comprehensive nature of the legislationrequires extensive reporting requirements on any institution doing business with persons and entities from the US, according to a press release from the Caricom Secretariat at Turkeyen.
He explained that given the demands of the FACTA, there is concern that compliance would contravene local laws to which the banking and financial institutions are obligated.
LaRocque was on the first day of his visit to the US capital when he met with a cross-section of the Diaspora leadership at the offices of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on Tuesday.
He is in Washington D.C. for a series of meetings with International and Hemispheric Institutions including the IDB, World Bank and the Organisation of American States (OAS).
He will also pay a courtesy call on the Director of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Dr Mirta Roses Periago.
He brought the gathering at the IDB up to date on the latest developments in the Community with emphasis on the reform process, while pointing out that merchandise trade was not the only measure to judge the success of the integration movement.
The Diaspora, the release said, offered suggestions on improving links with their homeland, including greater use of the social networks and programmes specifically aimed at attracting their skills to assist the region’s development.
Earlier in the day, the Secretary-General had met with the Caricom Caucus of Ambassadors in Washington DC during which issues related to relations between the United States and the region were discussed.
These included the Community’s response to FATCA and the Food Safety Modernisation Act (FSMA), two pieces of US legislation which would have adverse effects on the Community, the release stated.
Food Safety legislation
With respect to the FSMA, the new legislation would have significant implications on how Caribbean businesses interact with the US and has the potential to reduce Caricom’s exports to the US. This is due to the need for food exporters to satisfy more stringent requirements to gain entry into the market.
Ambassador LaRocque and the Ambassadors also looked at responding to the developments surrounding the subsidies to US Virgin Islands rum producers which have put Caricom rum producers at a disadvantage.
The Ambassadors were also brought up to date on the support given to the Community by the IDB to develop the region’s Aid for Trade Strategy as well as in the area of Maritime Transport and Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D). The Secretary-General also met with the President of the IDB Luis Alberto Moreno, after paying a courtesy call on Ambassador Richard Bernal, Executive Director, for The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago at the Bank.
The Special Representative of the Heads of Government on Haiti, PJ Patterson and Haiti’s Special Envoy to Caricom, Ambassador John Alexis, also attended this meeting at which the reconstruction of Haiti was a major topic.
LaRocque thanked the President for the Bank’s support in the Maritime Transport area and sought his support for ICT4D and in the reform process underway in the Community.
LaRocque was scheduled to meet with President of the IDB, Luis Alberto Moreno on Tuesday and with Vice-President, Latin America and the Caribbean, of the World Bank, Hasan Tuluy yesterday, as well as the OAS Secretary-General, José Miguel Insulza.
The Secretary-General’s mission includes an address today, the final day of his visit, at the George Washington University under the theme “Development Challenges in the Caribbean and the Role of Caricom,” the release concluded.
