The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has expressed concern that reports of alleged fraud at local financial institutions have the potential to affect confidence in Jamaica’s financial system negatively.
“Bank of Jamaica continues to monitor the developments in the financial sector closely to ensure the soundness and stability of the financial system. The basis of a strong and resilient financial system is the confidence clients have in knowing that their funds are safe and secure and can be accessed in a timely manner,” the central bank said.
It has also given assurance that its supervised deposit-taking Institutions – commercial banks, building societies and the sole merchant bank in Jamaica, remain adequately capitalised and liquid and that all deposits in these institutions remain safe and secure.
The central bank added that its ongoing regulatory oversight remains rigorous concerning the financial institutions it supervises.
These institutions are required by law to have all their assets and liabilities recorded on the balance sheet.
At the same time, the BOJ said it is working with these supervised institutions to continuously upgrade and strengthen their internal controls, including ensuring fraud prevention and early detection systems by deploying advanced, technological reporting and analytic tools at globally accepted levels.
The central bank notes that in the recent case of alleged fraud at a commercial bank, the stringent internal controls insisted on by BOJ assisted in the early detection of irregular transactions and ensured that the risk was kept to a minimal level relative to the capitalisation of the institution.
Local institutions supervised by the BOJ are Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica Limited, Citibank, N.A., FirstCaribbean International Bank (Jamaica) Limited, First Global Bank Limited, JMMB Bank (Jamaica) Limited, JN Bank Limited, National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited, Sagicor Bank Jamaica Limited, Scotia Jamaica Building Society, Victoria Mutual Building Society, and Cornerstone Trust & Merchant Bank Limited.
