Prime Minister Gaston Browne has issued a stern warning to banks operating in Antigua and Barbuda, urging them to take client confidentiality seriously or face significant financial penalties under new legislation.
Addressing Parliament during the second and third readings of the **Payment Systems and Services Bill 2025**, the Prime Minister highlighted a personal incident in which details of a private rental contract involving his Jolly Harbour property were made public by a financial institution.
“Unfortunately, I suffered a situation with one of the banks recently… probably about four years ago, in which a contract that I had for the rental of our Jolly Harbour home ended up in the public domain,” Browne told legislators. “Didn’t pursue it, but these are things that are very consequential and could really cost banks in the future.”
The new bill, which aims to overhaul the 2007 Payment System Act, introduces strict provisions around confidentiality and data protection. Clause 33 specifically outlines banks’ duty of secrecy and the penalties for unauthorized disclosure of client information.
Under the proposed law, any individual found guilty of breaching confidentiality could face a fine of up to **EC$100,000**, while corporate entities could be liable for penalties as high as **EC$250,000**.
“These fines are significant, and [banks] may want to be very careful and ensure that there is no such breach of privacy,” Browne added, citing the landmark UK case _Tournier v National Provincial Bank_ as a precedent on the importance of maintaining client secrecy.
The legislation forms part of a broader push to modernize Antigua and Barbuda’s financial landscape and aligns with regional efforts under the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) to regulate payment systems and enhance consumer protection.
The bill also proposes licensing requirements for payment service providers, regulations to address crypto-based payment platforms, and the creation of an Eastern Caribbean Payment Council to oversee standards and compliance.
The debate in Parliament continued with wide support for the bill, which is expected to be enacted in the coming weeks.