BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - WITH the threat of Correspondent Banks withdrawing their services from local financial institutions, Foreign Affairs Minister Mark Brantley is pushing for engagements with Washington DC on that subject and a number of other related issues.
While accepting a donation of 10 ventilators from the United States Government, through its Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados, Minister Brantley told Ambassador Linda Taglialatela that he is hopeful of having the same level of partnership on critical issues as they are having in the fight to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in St. Kitts and Nevis.
According to Brantley, the pandemic “has signalled to the world that we are nothing, if not interdependent on each other and the interwoven nature of the international community. Indeed, whatever we do in our localised geographical space can affect people and communities in far-flung places”.
“Let me continue to hope that the United States will partner with us just as you are doing now to find solutions to other issues such as Climate Change, access to concessionary financing, correspondent banking, de-risking and blacklisting,” Brantley added.
Those issues have been plaguing the Federation, including the fact that a number of financial institutions in St. Kitts and Nevis had lost correspondent relations with international banks due to stricter regulations imposed by the United States Government.
With regards to Climate Change, the Minister and others in the region have been calling for the institutions to stop treating Small Island Developing States like developed ones due in part to their Gross Domestic Product strength.
According to Brantley, like the COVID-19 Pandemic, those issues continue “to pose a clear and present danger to Caribbean economies”.
