Both Sides of The Coin: The Story of The Central Bank of Barbados 1972-2017

114 FINANCIAL SECTOR ISSUES Maturity meant as well that the Bank had to pay additional attention to financial sector issues. This resulted to a large extent from the rapid changes in global regulatory standards. However, there were also some push factors at the domestic level, such as the the commitment to maintaining a sound financial system and consolidation in the industry. Ensuring financial sector soundness The Central Bank of Barbados Act states that one of the Bank’s purposes is to promote a strong financial structure. (See Central Bank of Barbados Act, Part ll, Section 5 (C ). During the modern period, 1990 to 2017, the domestic banking system remained sound, stable and mostly free of crisis and controversy, achieved through several approaches and interventions. Organisation and administration In order to carry out the statutory mandate, the Bank Supervision Department first needed to function as efficiently as possible making it necessary from time to time to assess and adjust its structure and processes. Several organisational and administrative changes pertaining to monitoring, data reporting, human resource requirements and technology were effected during the second half of the 1990s. With respect to technology, an external review of the department’s preparedness for the 2000 date change exercise concluded that the course of action being taken was in line with international best practices. The operational improvements continued into the new century and were complemented by technical assistance from Canadian regulators. The department’s operational efficiency benefited from the flexibility that was introduced when the minister of finance delegated to the Bank some of his powers under the Financial Institutions Act (FIA) and the International Financial Services Act in 2010.