ECCB 2023-2024 Annual Report

EASTERN CARIBBEAN CENTRAL BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2023 - 2024

The ECCB oversaw the changes to the structure of the banking sector in the ECCU, including: National Bank of Dominica Limited’s purchase of the performing loan book of First Caribbean International Bank (Barbados) Limited (FCIB) Commonwealth of Dominica branch, and Grenada Co-operative Bank Limited’s purchase of certain assets, and the assumption of certain liabilities of the FCIB Grenada branch. ; The invalidation of the 365-days write off timeframe requirement within the Prudential Standard for the Treatment of Impaired Assets, for Institutions Licensed under the Banking Act, 2015, that sought to mitigate any material impact to LFIs’ audited financial statements; ; The escalation process for timely execution of remedial action documents, that sought to mitigate non-compliance with the Banking Act; and ; The payment of dividends or transfers from profits, particularly where it would incur adverse implications for capital and liquidity. D evelopment and I ssuance of P rudential S tandards The ECCB issued the following prudential standards, as part of its thrust to strengthen the resilience and robustness of the ECCU banking sector: 1. Management of Market Risk (effective 2 August 2023); 2. Stress Testing (effective 1 November 2023); 3. Capital Management: Basel II/III Definition of Capital and Pillar I Framework (effective 3 January 2024); and The Bank provided guidance to licensees regarding the following, inter alia:

4. Climate-Related and Environmental Risks (effective 1 March 2024).

The process of finalising the prudential standard for the Management of Interest Rate Risk in the Banking Book and the revision of the Liquidity Risk Management Guidelines is ongoing. The issuance of the Fit and Proper Standard, and the Prudential Standard on Corporate Governance remains contingent on the passage of the amendments to the Banking Act, 2015 in all member countries. C redit B ureau The Bank continued work towards strengthening the ECCU credit reporting regulatory framework and promoting the enactment of the ECCU Credit Reporting Bill in the member countries yet to do so. During the financial year, the licensed credit bureau, which is at a pre-launch stage, focused on executing subscriber agreements, data mapping and data extraction. In October 2023, Anguilla enacted the Credit Reporting Bill. The Bill, which gives the ECCB the authority to supervise and regulate credit reporting in the currency union, is now enacted in all ECCB countries. In February 2021, the ECCB granted a licence to Creditinfo ECCU Limited to operate as a credit bureau and to provide credit reporting services in the ECCU. Creditinfo ECCU Limited has since rebranded and in July 2023, an amended licence was issued to reflect the name change to EveryData ECCU Limited. The Credit Bureau is currently at the soft launch phase, during which credit information providers will be able to access credit reports without a fee. The Credit Bureau is expected to be fully operational by August 2024.

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