Top legal and finance leaders from all member states of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) have converged on Antigua and Barbuda this week for the eighth annual joint gathering of Attorneys General, Chief Parliamentary Counsel, and Financial Secretaries.
Hosted by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), the two-day policy conference ran from May 14 to 15, centered on advancing coordinated legislative and financial industry reforms across the entire Eastern Caribbean region. Throughout the meeting, delegates delved into a wide range of priority policy initiatives designed to reinforce financial governance and oversight across the currency union. These included draft updates to regional insurance and pension regulations, new licensing frameworks for digital and traditional payment systems, updated data protection governance standards, and enhanced cross-border crisis management protocols to mitigate systemic financial risk.
In addition to general regional policy discussions, the meeting featured dedicated presentations on country-specific and institution-focused modernization projects. Attendees were briefed on Grenada’s upcoming Cooperative Societies Bill, which aims to update regulation of the island’s cooperative sector, as well as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’ progress rolling out its new Single Window for Land and Property Transactions, a digital initiative designed to cut red tape and speed up real estate processing across the country. Delegates also reviewed proposed legislative changes to update the Eastern Caribbean Home Mortgage Bank (ECHMB), centered on a new draft agreement that would formalize changes to ECHMB’s capital structure to support its modernization and expansion.
Per statements from the ECCB, this week’s gathering is a core component of the central bank’s long-term strategic agenda laid out in its 2026-2031 Strategic Plan, which identifies strengthening regional regulatory and supervisory systems as a key priority to support sustained financial stability and economic growth across the ECCU. The annual cross-sector meeting has long been one of the ECCB’s flagship collaborative events, creating a structured space for regional legal leaders and financial regulators to align on shared legislative priorities that shape the future of the Eastern Caribbean’s financial sector.