Dear client,
We would like to inform you that BRP has updated its COUNTRY MANUAL PRIVATE BANKING for the following jurisdiction:
BAHAMAS OUT OF BANK’S COUNTRY OF ESTABLISHMENT (DEF, RS, BT & RT)
| SOURCE OF CHANGES | ANSWERS |
| Law/Regulation | NO |
| New Position of the Authorities | NO |
| Evolution of Expert’s interpretation | YES |
Regulatory Template, Regulatory Summary and Behaviour Template
Material changes
The Manual has been reviewed to ensure that its content remains accurate and in accordance with an evolving interpretation of the legal and regulatory framework. While the laws and regulations as such have not been materially amended since the last update, our local experts have suggested to adapt certain approaches on the basis of an evolving interpretation of the regulatory framework. Based on the fact that the relevant method of ascertaining whether a foreign bank is active in The Bahamas depends largely on the place where the relevant service is performed, it can be inferred that the mere solicitation of banking or investment services will not trigger licensing requirements Consequently, the approach has been modified as follows:
- Prospecting activities on the Bank’s initiative, onsite and via remote means of communication: NO => Grey zone/YES (on a one-to-one and occasional basis) and YES respectively
- Negotiation activities on the Bank’s initiative, onsite and via remote means of communication: NO => Grey zone/YES (on a one-to-one and occasional basis) and YES respectively
- Offering additional services onsite on the Bank’s initiative: NO =>Grey zone/YES (on a one-to-one and occasional basis)
- Execution only onsite: NO => Grey zone/YES, provided orders are executed outside of the country
- Providing general advice onsite on the Bank’s and the client’s initiative: NO => Grey zone/YES (on a one-to-one and occasional basis)
- Providing investment advice actively or passively with or without an ongoing advisory agreement via remote means of communication: NO => YES (such an activity would not constitute “carrying on securities business in or from The Bahamas”.
Non-material changes
The documents have been reformatted onto the latest templates. Several comments/conditions have been slightly reworded (without introducing material changes) to reflect the regulatory situation/current interpretation of the regulatory framework more accurately.
Implications for business relations with third parties
With respect to the provision of documentation to the EAM (such as documentation on the Bank’s banking and investment services, investment research and financial analysis or recommendation lists), our Country Manual now distinguishes between the provision to the EAM for remittance to the end client on the one hand and the provision to the EAM for the EAM’s own professional purposes on the other hand. The answers have been amended accordingly.
Regulatory Summary
This document has now a more user-friendly layout and reflects the changes contained in the RT.
BT Short Comparison
BRP has created a comparison document allowing users to quickly identify the modifications made compared to the previous version of the PB Manual (BT Short Comparison). The BT Short Comparison can be found on BRP’s platform (mybrponline) in the Search tab by entering in the Document Field “CM PB BT SHORT COMP” and “BAHAMAS” in the Target Country Field.
The BT Short Comparison should be read as follows:
The first column contains a short description of the activity in question. The second column contains the answers of the previous version of the Country Manual (online until the day of the alert). The third column contains the new answers of the most recent version of the Country Manual. Only the modified answers are displayed (in color). If the answers in the new version are unchanged compared to the previous version, they are shaded in grey.
For more information, please contact us: info@brpsa.com
Best regards,