As the House met yesterday to amend the Banking Act, discussions shifted focus to much-needed reforms in the sector. Both government and opposition MPs seemed to be in concert as they lamented the often tedious requirements banks imposed, especially on the poor and marginalised.

“The Central Bank has always been mandated to call the commercial banks to stop this thing about needing 3 ID cards and use your father, use your godfather, to open a bank account with our people. I'm glad that that will change,” explained Prime Minister and Member for Castries East, Philip J. Pierre.

The Prime Minister alluded to regional legislation, which is expected to be brought to Parliaments across the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union, that will make opening bank accounts easier.

Castries Central MP, Richard Frederick, also took issue with the strenuous banking process involving proving sources of funds. He notes that such requirements may be cumbersome when customers are mandated to prove their financial income on more than one occasion.

Said Frederick: “Not too long ago, I had to tell a given bank: how can you lend a man money? You lend a man money, and his installment is X amount per month. The first thing you do as a bank is to assess his ability to repay. Yet when he repays, he has to provide a source of funds. I don't understand it.”

Opposition member, Choiseul MP, Bradley Felix, also concurred with his counterparts on the government side and echoed the need for modernised banking legislation in the region.

“So I'm hoping that at the same time when we will get this new legislation with regards to the opening of bank accounts, we could see some form of uniformity as it relates to how banks apply charges for various aspects of having accounts with them, Mr. Speaker.  But the Member for Castries East, the Prime Minister, is very correct that as the world is evolving, things need to change.”