Brian Wynter, outgoing executive director of the Financial Services Commission, says the proposal for a single financial regulator has not been put to him formally. - File
FINANCIAL REGULATOR Brian Wynter has poured cold water on a proposal by the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) governor for a single financial regulator, a plan that would require his agency, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), to operate as a unit within the central bank.
Wynter, asked for comment on the proposal, said it may not work.
He also told the Financial Gleaner that the proposal has not been formally put to his agency.
BoJ Governor Derick Latibeaudiere, in a speech to central bankers gathered in Montego Bay two weeks ago, said he would be lobbying for the central bank to be the single regulator of the financial sector, a job it now shares with the FSC, saying it would make for better oversight.
The governor also suggested a subsidiary role for the FSC as a unit within the bank.
But Wynter suggested the proposal was counter to practices worldwide.
"In most countries this would not be attempted," he said in an email to the Financial Gleaner.
The commission signalled that there are many significant issues that would arise from this merger, but said it could offer no detailed comment without a formal proposal.
Any institutional changes, he added, should result in the enhancement of the quality of supervision of the financial sector.
Speaking to colleagues in Montego Bay, Latibeaudiere said that it was his preference for an integrated and autonomous supervisory authority within the central bank.
Minister without Portfolio in the Finance Ministry, Senator Don Wehby, has said Government is willing to consider the proposal, but said he would need to peruse other models and conduct studies on the subject ahead of discussions.
The Financial Services Com-mission was created six years ago in an attempt to strengthen the investment community. It regulates some 48 licensees, life and general insurance companies, and the private pensions industry.
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