Unfortunately the Bahamas is not an island in this. It will be determined by others (FATF, CFATF, G20 etc.) what is acceptable and what is not. It is a fact that Customs does not check on money brought into the country and I am sure there are willing Bahamians that help launder money through the webshops for a few cents on the dollar. Through the underground economy established by the webshop owners over the past years, there is already so much illicit money in the system (unregulated mortgages, loans, real estate purchases etc.) combined with all the Pindling-era money from trafficking that is still stuck in the Bahamas, that this issue will haunt the Bahamas for years to come. Short sighted, anti-visionary and greed driven.The government cant even handle the landfill problem, how can they handle big money and the webshops..

What about the Symnontte era money from rum-running ok that was ok?

what about money from slavery, that was ok?

please deposit my reparation money asap

the webshops have been there already doing and providing their own loans to folks. this way at least has legitimate parties involved. not sure if legitimate includes Perry n them but the banks seem to already know their client.

*During her contribution to the budget debate in the Senate, the Attoney General underscored the country’s risk for blacklisting if the underground economy is not regulated.*

Wow, now that's spin. The last I heard, the people said loud and clear that they wanted the industry shutdown. That would remove all threats of blacklisting.

What country is now suing the US for forcing all its internet web shops to close down. suing for $200 million.

Presumably then (1) the banking community will be able to satisfy themselves that the gaming enterprises whom they maybe taking on as clients will be in compliance with local and international money laundering laws and regulations to the satisfaction of local and global financial regulators.

(2) The web-shop bank client take-on process may include audited financial statements and a laundry list of due diligence including beneficial owners identification etc. will need to be completed. For foreign banks, it is more than likely that approvals will need to be made in Toronto.

(3) Other gambling affiliated or closely held businesses (and persons) such as lending and client accounts would also need to be in compliance with banking legislation (bank license?). What about the gambling houses international branches and subsidiaries in other Caribbean jurisdictions? Will these be regulated from the Bahamas?

(4) If accepted as clients, the banks will need to make themselves comfortable with the placement of large cash deposits into their institutions not only to their local satisfaction but also to the satisfaction of their head offices.

(5) Failure on any of these points could cause some reputational issues for the banks.

(6) Finally in order to avoid tax (VAT) leakage it will be important for all gambling proceeds (including cash) be deposited into the local banking system.

The Church has said no to gambling, the people by way of poll have said no to gambling, civil society have raised issues on its impact on the poor, statements from the banking community have raised concerns. However, the current administration tells us that all will be fine once the industry is legalized.

The likes of Perry "Vomit" Christie, Wilchcombe, and Maynard-Gibson are now nothing more than agents of the Numbers' Bosses like Flowers whose interests they are eager to represent against the interests and wishes of the Bahamian people. Like the Mafia Bosses, the Numbers' Bosses are known hard core criminals and racketeers who are scampering to portray themselves as god-faring hardworking businessmen so that they can use their enormous accumulated proceeds of crime to take outright control of our country's political system. The democracy we built and maintained for as long as we could will now rapidly become a kleptocracy run by the Numbers' Bosses thanks to Perry "Vomit" Christie, Obie Wilchcombe and Allyson Maynard-Gibson having sold their souls to the devil for election campaign contributions to the PLP among other things! Flowers and the other Numbers' Bosses are no different than the Mafia Bosses of Southern Italy that Pope Francis of the Catholic Church has just recently excommunicated en mass, proclaiming them to be the very embodiment of the evil scourge against mankind that exists in our world today. Yes Mr. Flowers, that's precisely what you are: a predator of the poorer Bahamians in our society whose gambling addictions you have preyed on for so many years, leaving many a destitute Bahamian child to grow up in abject poverty while you were lining your pockets with just about every single dollar you could squeeze out of their families' very limited coffers.

What about BTC's online Gaming? Isn't that even more on the lines of a predator. Sending you texts all hours of the day asking you to 'come play to win"...They made over a million in 2 weeks and even little children were allowed to play. Fifty cents a text..wonder if BTC has an online gaming licence? Does anybody know?

I imagine every drug dealer will be buying winning lottery tickets to launder their money. The Bahamas is chock full or corrupt people reigning over a populace of morons. Please convince me otherwise.

John 1 hour, 11 minutes ago

What about BTC's online Gaming? Isn't that even more on the lines of a predator. Sending you texts all hours of the day asking you to 'come play to win"...They made over a million in 2 weeks and even little children were allowed to play. Fifty cents a text..wonder if BTC has an online gaming licence? Does anybody know?

For those who may be too young to have a full history of our PM's political career, it was none other than Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling who labelled Christie as "Vomit" because of his political treachery to the PLP.

I think you need to check the facts on this one!

As reported in the May 1, 2002 edition of The Tribune:
Both Perry Christie and Hubert Alexander Ingraham were cast out by an angry Sir Lynden. One stood by his principles and refused to go back, the other remained mute until the time came for him to return to the Pindling fold as a Cabinet minister. In answer to a critic’s accusation that by accepting the Cabinet post Mr Christie was like a “dog returning to his vomit”, Mr. Christie said: “For the love, for the emotional support that these people gave me, I will swim in the vomit.” I guess this is why Christie now has no difficulty swimming with the Numbers' Bosses and the likes of Nygard.

The majority of our banks are foreign owned and subject to foreign taxes, oversight and fines. The international headlines post the financial crash have been littered with banks fined millions of dollars for skirting compliance standards.The good old boys network does have the influence it believes in USA, Canada or Switzerland.

So what about the big boys plans to crash the US dollar while Obama is still in office and send the world economy into a tailspin?