Consultations on Office of Financial Conduct and Inclusion and Eastern Caribbean Financial Standards Board
The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) is pleased to announce that consultations on the establishment of the Office of Financial Conduct and Inclusion (OFCI) and the Eastern Caribbean Financial Standards Board (ECFSB), across the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU), commenced on 6 February in Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis and will run through to June 2025.
The ECCB has invited a broad range of stakeholders to participate in these discussions. The following five groups in St Kitts attended the first consultation:
- St Kitts and Nevis Association of Persons with Disabilities;
- St Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union;
- Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions;
- Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Eastern Caribbean; and
- St Christopher and Nevis National Co-operative League Limited
The OFCI will be responsible for regulating matters relating to financial consumer protection and business conduct for financial institutions licensed under the Banking Act. Its work will include the following, among other areas:
- Ensuring that timely, accurate, and clear information is provided to the public to facilitate decision-making relating to financial products and services;
- Prohibiting misleading conduct and unsubstantiated claims in connection with financial products and services;
- Facilitating customers’ complaints against commercial banks;
- Ensuring that emerging consumer protection issues, such as cybersecurity and data protection, are effectively addressed;
- Assuring fair and easy access to financial services regardless of income, gender, heritage, religion, country of origin, age, physical capability, social status, digital capability or financial literacy; and
- Improving financial literacy among financial market participants.
The ECFSB is being established to create regulatory standards in four main areas namely:
- Insurance and Pensions (onshore and offshore);
- Deposit-taking non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), such as credit unions, development banks and building societies;
- Anti-Money Laundering/Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) and money services businesses, consumer protection and market conduct; and
- Offshore banks, trusts and mutual funds.
The OFCI and the ECFSB are aimed to enhance financial stability in the ECCU.
Media Contact: Shermalon Kirby, Director, Corporate Relation Department
Phone: (869) 465-2537 | Fax: (869) 465-9562
E-mail: info@eccb-centralbank.org | Website: www.eccb-centralbank.org
