Hot topics on the cards at CDB talks

Top officials from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have joined some of the Caribbean and the world’s leading players in a conference on corruption and compliance hosted by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

The 2021 Caribbean Conference on Corruption, Compliance, and Cybercrime, which is being held virtually for the second successive year and is open to the public, continues today.

The Barbados-headquartered regional institution will be focusing on the theme ‘Ending Poverty and Driving Growth: Promoting Good Governance by Curbing Corruption, Money Laundering, and Cybercrime in the Caribbean’.

Toussant Boyce, Head of CDB’s Office of Integrity, Accountability and Compliance, which is coordinating the conference, said in a release from the bank: “Corruption, money laundering and cybercrime are challenges that if left unchecked can have a devastating effect on a country’s development and the region’s potential to end poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth.
“The COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, has shown us that the perpetrators of these crimes are relentlessly inventive in finding ways to take advantage of crises.

“It’s important for the CDB to provide thought-leadership to the Caribbean about how to promote good governance through crises. We must share new bold ideas on how to combat these ills and learn about the ways in which we can sharpen and improve our compliance and oversight functions to keep them at bay.”

On Tuesday, during the first day of the conference, more than 1,000 people from several countries registered and followed the various sessions.

Among the highlights will be a high-level panel on day one of the conferences featuring Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, Timothy Antoine, the World Bank’s Director of Governance Global Practice, Edward Olowo-Okere, and CDB’s General Counsel Diana Wilson Patrick on The Role of Governance in the Drive to End Poverty and Drive Growth in the Caribbean.

Leaders of two major regional organisations will look at how the private sector can curb corruption, money laundering and cybercrime in the closing CEO Roundtable on day one which will see President and CEO of Republic Financial Holdings Limited, Nigel Baptiste, Managing Director of Goddard Enterprises Anthony Ali in discussion with CDB Vice-President (Operations), Isaac Solomon.

The persistent and growing threat of cybercrime will be highlighted with a session focusing specifically on new developments in the area. A panel of regional and international experts, including cybercrime expert and former FBI Special Agent Jason Manar and Professor Lloyd Waller, will examine topics such as the new cybercrime methods and tools being used by perpetrators and ways of combating them. (IMC1)