Press Release
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of The Bahamas is a statutory body responsible for receiving, obtaining, analyzing, and disseminating information that relate, or may relate, to proceeds of crime or other related financial crime.
Joann Creary, FIU Bahamas’ in-house legal counsel, represented the unit at Session One of The Bahamas Bar Association (BBA) Legal Practitioners’ Annual Training at Margaritaville Resort on Friday, June 12, 2026. The training session was moderated by Lenise R. Flowers-Bethell, legal counsel for Whiteleaf Law Chambers, under the theme “Guardians at The Gate: CFATF Compliance, KYC, and the Law Firm Practice”. Creary was accompanied by two legal panelists, Raquel Wilson, the Senior Manager, Legal, Corporate Governance and Secretary at Scotiabank Bahamas, and Bianca Rahming-Brown, the in-house legal counsel of The Compliance Commission of The Bahamas.
As a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and Certified Financial Crime Specialist (CFCS), Creary communicated the importance of financial institutions and legal entities fulfilling due diligence measures, as the lack thereof results in hefty fines and additional regulatory consequences. She further elaborated that the level of compliance within the legal profession impacts the FIU’s ability to identify, assess, and mitigate money laundering, and terrorist financing risks at the national level, making legal practitioners’ role a crucial one during the suspicious transaction reporting (STR) process. “An administrative penalty will be imposed upon a financial institution if the notice exceeds the expiration date of no more than fourteen (14) working days after the compliance notice is issued”, said Creary. Among the topics that were covered, Creary mentioned that FIU Bahamas offers formal training workshops to educate institutions about money laundering (ML) and proliferation financing (PF).
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of The Bahamas serves as the agency that is responsible for receiving, analyzing, obtaining, and disseminating information which relates to, or may relate to, the following laws: the Proceeds of Crime Act, the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, the Anti-Terrorism Act, and any other Act which is relevant to this information from any foreign financial intelligence unit. As such, the FIU plays a pivotal role in the jurisdiction of the AML/CFT/CPF regime.
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