US banks and US House Committee meet with CARICOM heads

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Prime Minister Gaston Browne, as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) lead Head of Government on Financial matters, has gotten assurances from Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Chairperson for the US House Committee on Financial Affairs, that the House Committee will “take actions that may be necessary to preserve the mutual interests of the U.S. and the Caribbean.”

Representatives of the government of the 15-nation CARICOM had a fully attended roundtable meeting on Tuesday November 19th with members of the US Congress and senior representatives of major US banks, concerning the effects of de-risking and the withdrawal of correspondent banking relations (CBRs).

In his address, Prime Minister Browne told the meeting that the Caribbean and the US have “a mutuality of interests” which necessitated each side displaying active concern about the well-being of the other, including security.    

In this regard, the Prime Minister argued that the process of de-risking which has led to a withdrawal of relations by some US banks from Caribbean banks, poses a serious threat to the region’s welfare, including its capacity to import goods from the US, which totalled over US $13 billion last year, and is set to exceed this figure this year.

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