I can still recall high level delegations from these islands scurrying off to New York to try to get them off the list. Almost all succeeded except perhaps one. You see, these islands had established offshore financial centers before these anti money laundering standards were introduced. Some 20 years ago Fiji seriously contemplated setting up similar offshore financial centers.
I remember writing papers on this and actually visiting the Caribbean to study this issue. Fortunately, the RBF was able to convince Government that this was not a prudent thing to do and this advice remains as of today. Results What are the results so far? The FIU received 479 suspicious transactions in 2008.