News Americas, BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Fri. Aug. 16, 2019:
Here are the top business stories making news from the Caribbean for this week of Aug. 16, 2019:
US Diaspora
US-based businesses doing business in and with the Caribbean are finding out the hard way that several banks are not supporting business transactions in several countries which are on what is dubbed a ‘high risk’ list. HSBC for instance is declining to open business checking accounts for US companies with large business interests in the Caribbean region as several key countries are on a blacklist, News Americas has found. They include The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Suriname, Cuba, Haiti, Belize and Trinidad and Tobago. Employees at TD Bank also, citing a similar list and policy, declined to accept a new business checking account for a company doing business in the Caribbean. CitiBank also cited a similar policy for certain Caribbean nations.
Regional
How Easy Is It To Do Business In The Caribbean?
Not very according to the latest Doing Business 2019 report from the World Bank. Here’s where the Caribbean nations rank on the list of 190 nations around the world.
Puerto Rico – 64th globally
Jamaica – 75th globally
St. Lucia – 93rd globally
Dominican Republic – 102nd globally
Dominica – 103rd globally
Trinidad and Tobago – 105th globally
Antigua & Barbuda – 112th globally
The Bahamas – 118th globally
Belize – 125th globally
Barbados – 129th globally
St. Vincent and the Grenadines – 1230th globally
Guyana – 134th globally
St. Kitts and Nevis – 140th globally
Grenada – 147th globally
Suriname – 165th globally
Haiti – 182nd globally.
Mapping The Caribbean Sea Bed Read More…https://www.newsamericasnow.com/caribbean-business-and-finance-report-26/