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

150 to terms and conditions of service, conduct at Board meetings, disqualification, resignation and misconduct. The conditions under which a deputy governor could be disqualified were expanded in 1992 to include a conviction for an arrestable offence or one involving dishonesty. As the Bank’s investment policy became more sophisticated and diversified, an amendment to Section 27 in 1997 gave it the power to hedge. A new sub-section (27a) allowed the Bank to “effect contracts for the purpose of reducing or managing the financial risk arising from changes in interest rates, currency exchange rates or other factors of a financial or commercial nature….” The BDIC was established in 2006 with the Bank as the sole shareholder, necessitating the addition of two sub-sections to Section 16 of the Act. Sub-section 5 spoke to arrangements for transfer or secondment, while the preservation of the pension and other rights of persons transferred or seconded was the focus of Sub-section 6. An amendment to Section 31 made it possible for the Bank to open accounts for, accept deposits from and lend to the Corporation. With the increasing sophistication and complexity of the financial system, the Bank required more flexibility to carry out its mandate to “foster credit and exchange conditions conducive to the orderly and sustained economic development of Barbados.” 84 Accordingly, during 2007, Sub-sections 1 and 2 of Section 36 were amended to allow the Bank to regulate interest and credit conditions without the permission of the minister. These particular changes also served to strengthen the Bank’s autonomy. Since then several amendments have been discussed and proposed for inclusion in a revised Central Bank of Barbados Act. It is noted in the Objects and Reasons of the draft document that, in addition to a different arrangement of the sections, the revisions are mainly to ensure compliance with international financial reporting standards.