Eastern Caribbean Central Bank 2024-2025 Annual Report

EASTERN CARIBBEAN CENTRAL BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2024 - 2025

Organisational Effectiveness and Development

AML/CFT/CPF Training and Sensitisation The Quarterly AML/CFT/CPF Newsletter: The ECCB continued its quarterly publication of its AML/ CFT/CPF Newsletter, which provided quarterly updates on topical AML/CFT/CPF issues affecting the region, as well as guidance on regulatory initiatives specific to AML/CFT/CPF. Some of the topics featured in the newsletters were as follows: Revisions to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations 24 and 25; The Misuse of Internet and Mobile Payment Systems for Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing; Reverse Money Laundering; The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Financial Services; New and Emerging Money Laundering Techniques; Non-Traditional Predicate Offences to Money Laundering; and Typology – The ECCB’s Advisory on Job-Search Scams. ECCB AML Virtual Learning Campus: The ECCB continued its AML Virtual Learning Campus, through the ACAMS Enterprise Membership programme. Topics included suspicious activity reporting trends, enterprise-wide risk assessment methodology, AML screening, preventing fraud, trends in Proliferation Financing (PF), building governance frameworks, management reporting, and assessing politically exposed persons. Industry AML/CFT Training: The ECCB’s training programme includedworkshops to raiseawareness of the national risk assessments for ML/TF in Saint Lucia and Montserrat, as well as a Counter Proliferation Financing webinar facilitated by the Caribbean Financial ActionTask Force (CFATF). The webinar, which attracted over 200 participants, was an important step in strengthening the collective Access AML/CFT/CPF Newsletters

with the CARTAC to host a regional workshop on Travel Services, which aimed to improve the compilation of visitor expenditure estimates produced by the ECCU member countries. The workshop provided an opportunity for participants to discuss best practices in data collection and estimation techniques, ultimately strengthening the accuracy of travel services statistics, a key component of the Balance of Payments. Other Capacity-Building Initiatives The Bank strengthened the capacity of staff to meet its mandate through training in the following areas: 1. BASEL II/III; 2. Financial Soundness Indicators: Concentration and Distribution Measures; 3. Financial Soundness Indicators for Other Financial Corporations; 4. Artificial Intelligence in Finance; 5. Regional Financial Stability Analysis; 6. Future of the Monetary System; 7. Financial Programming; 8. Foundations of Central Banking; and 9. Designing Macroprudential Policy Tools. Training sessions were conducted for new staff and internal teams, covering tools such as Excel, SAS, Power Query, and survey implementation. These efforts aimed to ensure that staff were equipped with the skills necessary to perform their roles effectively. Staff also attended the Data Governance and Information Quality (DGIQ) and AI Governance conference in Washington, D.C., integrating insights gained into the ongoing development of the data strategy.

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