Wednesday, October 26 | 4:00 – 5:30 pm ET | Harbor Club, Saint Lucia
The Atlantic Council’s Caribbean Initiative and Caribbean Association of Banks hosts a roundtable on the sidelines of CAB’s 49th Annual Conference and General Meeting. The roundtable will be an opportunity for bankers, business leaders, regulators, government officials, and multilateral representatives from across the Caribbean and the United States to share solutions on how to curb financial de-risking and how US policy actions and pending legislation can ease the burden regional and indigenous banks face as a result of lost correspondent banking relations. The discussion will inform the agenda of a second roundtable and scope of the inaugural US-Caribbean Banking Forum, scheduled to be held in early 2023.
How we got here
The Atlantic Council’s Caribbean Initiative launches the Financial Inclusion Task Force (FITF)
The 2021 Financial Inclusion Task Force included experts across US and Caribbean governments, businesses, nonprofits, and multilateral institutions. Task Force members identified the withdrawal of correspondent banking relations as a barrier to achieving financial inclusion and economic development in the Caribbean.
FITF holds final official meeting
The FITF concluded six months of meetings and individual consultations.
The Caribbean Initiative begins external consultation process
The Caribbean Initiative held a series of consultation meetings with representatives of US Congress, multilateral financial institutions, Central Banks, and regional banking associations.
The Caribbean Initiative launches report, “Financial de-risking in the Caribbean: The US implications and what needs to be done.”
The FITF produced a report outlining the extent of financial de-risking and recommendations for strengthening financial access across the region, including launching an annual US-Caribbean Banking Forum.
The Caribbean Initiative joins the US House Financial Services Committee for a financial access roundtable in Barbados
The Caribbean Initiative presented the FITF report recommendations during a roundtable with nine CARICOM Heads of Government, six members of US Congress, and high-level private sector and multilateral representatives.
Chairwoman Waters highlights Caribbean Initiative report in a letter to President Biden
Chairwoman Maxine Waters of the House Financial Services Committee urged President Biden in a published letter to prioritize financial access for Caribbean countries at the Summit of the Americas.
Caribbean Initiative convenes the US-Banking Forum Organizing Committee
The Committee brings together a a wide variety of perspectives and thought leaders that have led the charge on curbing de-risking in the Caribbean. They will meet throughout the year to coordinate private roundtables and generate consensus ahead of the inaugural Forum in 2023.
The Caribbean Initiative, the Caribbean Association of Banks, and Financial & International Business Association testify at US Congress
Wazim Mowla and FITF members Wendy Delmar and Wayne Shah testified at the House Financial Services Committee Hearing, “When Banks Leave: The Impacts of De-Risking on the Caribbean and Strategies for Ensuring Financial Access.
Phase 1 of the US-Caribbean Banking Forum
The Caribbean Initiative and Caribbean Association of Banks convene a private roundtable in Saint Lucia, “A Caribbean perspective on strategies and solutions for addressing financial de-risking.”
Related resources
The Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center broadens understanding of regional transformations and delivers constructive, results-oriented solutions to inform how the public and private sectors can advance hemispheric prosperity.