Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Governor Richard Byles is reaffirming that the institution can effectively execute the new responsibilities that it will be assigned under the proposed Twin Peaks regulatory model for the financial sector.    

According to Byles, the new duties will not “stretch us to the point where we can’t pay attention to our duties at the BOJ”. 

Under the new regime, the BOJ, which now supervises deposit-taking institutions, including commercial and merchant banks, will be given responsibility for regulating non-deposit-taking institutions and stakeholders that are under the purview of the Financial Services Commission (FSC). 

These include securities dealers, insurance companies and pension funds. The FSC will focus on market conduct and consumer relations. 

The FSC will oversee market conduct and consumer protection for the full spectrum of financial services. 

The Government, through the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, will, over the next 24 months, undertake the requisite legislative and supporting engagements to change the existing system of regulating financial institutions. 

“We accept the new responsibilities… with humility. We think we can do a good job of it. Our heads are down and we are working at it. Together, the BOJ and FSC are working to implement this Twin Peak Supervision,” Byles said. 

He was speaking during the ‘Let’s Connect with Ambassador Audrey Marks’ digital forum last Thursday (March 2). 

Byles said that, ahead of the relevant legislation being piloted through Parliament, Dr Nigel Clarke, minister of finance and the public service, moved to expand responsibilities of several BOJ representatives who have been asked to undertake specific engagements. 

These include the Governor’s appointment as FSC Chair and three other senior executives to serve on the entity’s Board, and the secondment of BOJ’s chief prudential officer, Major Kerron Burrell, to serve as the commission’s executive director.    

Byles said the BOJ is not “running the FSC”. 

“The FSC has its staff. All that has happened is that the executive director [who] was there has resigned, and we have put a new one there, and we have changed members of the Board so that we have oversight, and that is what we are currently doing,” he explained.

– JIS