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November 2014 The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) commenced a study entitled “Opportunities and risks associated with the advent of digital currency in the Caribbean”, where yours truly was selected as the consultant to perform the required research and write the final report. The study sought to introduce the Caribbean to the phenomenon of digital currency and explore the opportunities and risks which arise from application of this innovation within the Caribbean. The work was performed in the context of continued regional deficiencies in electronic payment infrastructure (e-commerce and mobile money) and the appearance of service providers seeking to provide solutions in response to these deficiencies including digital currency service providers.
The study brought together key stakeholders within the Caribbean involved in activities toward the development of better electronic payment infrastructure. These stakeholders included:
- E-commerce providers & software developers desirous of more responsive payment infrastructure
- Mobile wallet & digital currency service providers seeking entry in the Caribbean
- Central Bank Policy and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) senior representatives
- Government senior legal representative
- Finance academia representative
These parties were identified and invited to participate in two Expert Group Meetings (EGM). The 1st EGM was essential towards data collection of the views and positions of the aforementioned while the 2nd EGM was used to review a final draft of the report. The summaries of these meetings remain the only public output of this study to date. More
