Caribbean American Bank

Antigua continued its battle to clean up the image of its offshore financial services sector this month with the arrest of a notorious banker and an attempt to force another suspect bank into receivership. American-born William W. Cooper, aged 59, was arrested in Antigua on May 18 after a warrant was issued against him in the United States, where he has been criminally indicted for alleged money laundering and fraud.

One of the architects of Antigua's new anti-money laundering laws has written to the US Treasury protesting its recent issuance of an Advisory warning that all transactions with Antiguan financial institutions should be treated as suspicious. US-based attorney Carlos E. Loumiet conceded that there were "a few shortcomings" in Antigua's new legislation but he claimed the US had ignored the "numerous positive changes in bank supervision in Antigua and Barbuda over the past two years designed to clean up the offshore banking sector in that country".