A few days ago the London Financial Times carried an interesting commentary on the growing problem that financial institutions in smaller nations such as those in the Caribbean are having in establishing or maintaining a relationship with correspondent banks in North America, Europe or other parts of the developed world.
The opinion piece was written jointly by Mark Carney in his capacity as the Chairman of the Financial Stability Board, and by the Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of the World Bank Group, Bertrand Badré. Mr Carney is also the Governor of the Bank of England, and the Financial Stability Board is an influential international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system.
In outline, what the article said was that correspondent banking − the arrangement that allows a local bank to have