Financial Services Sector rocked by decline & Black Listing- SFC Report
Financial Services Sector going down!
This seems to have been confirmed by the Ministry of Finance during its testimony at the House of Assembly’s Standing Finance Committee (SFC) for the 2016 Appropriation Bill.
Deputy Financial Secretary (DFS) Ms Patlian Johnson told the House Committee that “between 2014 to 2015, there was a 10% decline in company incorporations and that decline had been occurring annually since 2013.”
Ms Johnson also confirmed that the revenue earned for the Financial Services Industry to the Virgin Islands coffers has declined.
When asked by the Leader of the Opposition Hon Julian Fraser RA (R3) to explain the decline, the DFS told the Committee “it was due to competition from other jurisdictions such as the Seychelles and Vanuatu in the South Pacific.”
When asked by the Minister for Education and Culture Hon Myron V. Walwyn what made the South Pacific more attractive, the DFS responded that “these countries processed applications faster.”
Financial Secretary Neil M. Smith also added that “such countries were not as regulated as the VI.”
In addition, the Premier and Minister of Finance Dr The Honourable D. Orlando Smith confessed that the VI had also suffered negative exposure regarding leaks of clients' information “as well as being blacklisted by the French.”
NDP not good for the sector-critics
Since taking office in 2011 the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) Opposition, civil society and the media have been critical of the NDP’s ability to handle the Financial Services Sector and accuse the current Government of simply reacting to international concerns and not being proactive.
One area they cited is that the VIP signed well over 21 Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) to help protect the sector from issues like being blacklisted, however, the current NDP Administration has signed less than 10 after almost 5 years in office.
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27 Responses to “Financial Services Sector rocked by decline & Black Listing- SFC Report”
These politicians are playing everyone of us for fools, whether they may have infighting, disagreements acted out in public, when they get together they laugh it all off and take it as a joke. Read between the lines of their statements.
“We had to stop the Minister (Hon. Mark Vanterpool) from setting up too much fireworks because I needed that money to buy some medication...He cuss me, but then he agreed with me,” Minister Skelton stated.
People we better wise up. We have serious problems that require solutions with some level of objectivity because our problems run deeper than party affiliations or purely self-interest. I forward international articles of court cases pertaining to our Financial Services Industry- of ministers of govts and leaders of companies who have allegedly defrauded their countries and have their holdings right here in the BVI. Never published in the BVI media. We trying so hard to keep a good name by keeping everything secretive that when “the sh###t hit the fan,” we will all (well some) be wondering what happened?
People we only hear one side of their stories; and when we do, they only share what they want us to know- the water down version.
Transparency, accountability, and inclusion are our keys to Good Governance. We all need to work this thing out together- Objectively.
Well, this is my say for awhile. My children need me.
There is no clear ideology or policy simply "sound bites" and "grab and go"/"knee jerk" poorly thought out responses to the Territory's problems. Take the New Peebles Hospital construction debacle = plan in haste then pay at leisure, NHI = no real competence on board now like a ship at sea, Financial Services = on the back foot all the time, Infrastructure = can't get anything right full of incoplete projects or "do overs". The list of failed or failing government policies and programs continues.. How can we continue to pay for these politician's mistakes and egos?
What we have here is a marginalization of intelligentsia in favour of mediocrity, laziness, and tribalism in BVI Politics election after election after election.....SMH
BVI. They obviously have a head problem and perhaps the guiitine is the answer. Makes one wonder if also those
Canadian owned banks in these parts are FRENCH Canadian and thus nit picky nosey behaviour of their management.
Canadian bacon is OK though.
while new incorporations are growing less rapidly, do new incorporations cover liquidations? are there still approx. 450,000 active bvi companies??
Also note that downturn in incorporation fees may be masked by uptick in other fees for active companies (certificates, registration/ de-registration of charges, premium service filings etc).
It is NOT due to speed of process or service level.
However, the difficulties BVI companies have had opening bank accounts (particularly in HK), the increased regulation applicable to BVI companies (through their service providers) and the simple fact that BVI has in part built its product based on price (an easy thing to compete with), all combined create significant headwinds.
The bank account issues seem to be being addressed (and members of the financial services community should share details of banks which are open for business with BVI cos), the increased regulation is part of the new world and may lead to reduced volume but higher quality of remaining companies (we shouldn't want the shady money-laundering companies as part of our business anyway) and the service levels in BVI are generally strong (and only getting better). So it is not all negative, but long term revenue may reduce due to a decline in volume. That's just something BVI will have to learn to cope with.
Wise choice ? Are u sayn dat Patilan resign? R is it that she is informing john public ?
** News Flash ** Yes, she's with a major legal private firm --- and she's well seated.