Derisking Still an Issue for Caribbean

E.P. Chet Greene

The loss of correspondent banking, also known as derisking, was a sticking point for Antiguan Minister of Trade, E.P. Chet Greene. His government has taken the lead for the Caribbean in exposing the effects of delinking countries from the international money chain. CARICOM member states, including Belize, have been adversely affected after U.S. financial institutions began severing relationships and closing off accounts with regional banks in numerous Caribbean countries. The U.S. claims this measure was taken to address money laundering and transnational issues. But Minister Greene says that ‘derisking’ severely impacts the economies of the Caribbean because there is no access to international exchange.

E.P. Chet Greene, Minister of Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs

“Effectively, what derisking does it takes you away from the global money chain. So for our tourism product, we cannot trade. For goods and services, we cannot trade. We would not even be able to buy medicines to maintain healthy populations across the region. So you can understand when you drill down to a layman explanation of what derisking really is; it is one that affects the entire region, all our peoples. All Caribbean countries have this challenge as the metropolitan countries decided that they wanted to delink themselves from us in the financial chain. And we are saying to the global community that this is just a wrong because access to the international money chain is one of those issues that we have a right to. And it is not even begging to be a part of; it is one of those things that you have a right to be a part of. It is a good. One of those goods that the people have a right to—the right to water, to education, to health, we also see a right to the financial money chain because without it, it is denying you the rights to those things I just mentioned.”