Many investors cry foul over UK sanctions extended to VI, hurting business
Once the UK via HM Treasury sanctions a country or business, that sanction automatically applies to the VI. This means we can no longer do business with that country, individual or the sanctioned business until the UK lifts the sanctions.
Despite the UK being the hub of money laundering, with trillions of dirty money in London bank accounts used to purchase real estate, the Territory of the VI, with its clean, transparent, and well-regulated financial services jurisdiction, has to now suffer because of the lack of proper regulations in the UK jurisdiction.
Business hurting in financial services & real estate
The sanction regime imposed on the VI and other Overseas Territories by the UK in exchange for keeping them off the European Union (EU) and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) blacklist has deeply hurt the VI in two areas, the financial services- Company Registration and Real Estate.
The UK sanctions that also apply to the VI have led to the loss of business in these two areas as investors have shifted to other jurisdictions where they do not apply, according to persons in the sector speaking to our newsroom on condition of anonymity.
There has been a drop of 22 percent of company registration, according to the Financial Services Commission 2023 figures, and many persons hoping to buy property in the VI, especially on many of the cays and private islands, have seen a drop of about 15 % because of the sanctions.
Similarly, the Register of Beneficial Ownership being pushed by the UK will also cost the VI lucrative business in both sectors. However, there was a glimmer of hope due to the EU Court of Justice ruling.
Another way to hurt VI Businesses despite court ruling
The court ruled in November 2022 against public access to Registers of Beneficial Ownership on human rights grounds. The irony is that although the UK had exited the EU they continued to push this. The Court Ruling enabled the OTs to bolster their positions on accessible public registers. The UK has, nevertheless, continued to push this as the way to go under the rhetoric of setting a new global standard.
The EU Court ruling has led to a new legitimate focus on accessibility, which is access to the companies' owners’ names, only to those with a legitimate interest and the fight will be on defining who has or what legitimate interest is. Clearly, the VI with its large company registry has most of the ‘skin in the game’ among the OTs, according to an industry commentator.
The bottom line is that the UK does not do much to protect the VI's financial services sector or its high-end real estate space. With the imposed extended sanctions, the Territory of the VI has suffered greatly and has also affected the money coming into the local government Treasury. It is no secret that 60 cents out of every dollar in revenue for the VI comes from the financial services sector.
In addition, Governor Daniel Pruce of the VI has pushed to have a sanctions unit under the normal phrase of ‘good governance’.
Maybe the time has come for the VI to make another case for independence, as its relations with the UK continue to hurt its economic interests and chase away businesses.
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15 Responses to “Many investors cry foul over UK sanctions extended to VI, hurting business”
Buried among all the other BS is the real reason this matters to them, the UK can engage in dirty money and build their people while the bvi eat dirt
UNTILL UNTILL YOU GRAB A COFFIN / CASKET - RIP
Now it is Russia. Next up China until the only pal we have left is good old drug addict war crazed NSA surveillance state USA who spies on its own people, entraps local politicians for points and lets the drug trade continue. Or our bosom buddy the UK who calls a COI on us during worse pandemic COVID while excusing their own home COI by saying during COVID is not the time for a UK COI.
Look at our laws and look at government discriminating against other races at the call of the former slave masters!
It was legal to have slaves. Now it is illegal to do business based on racist ideology.
Slave traffickers, human smugglers, thieves of native wealth and unapologetic sexual abusers.
The VI has become a tool of racial discrimination against the wish of the local population which means we are horribly colonized if not enslaved softly. When they call us to war that is when we realize how colonial style slavery never ended.
I dont care where a man is from if they want to come here in peace and relax on the beach away from these awful wars so be it. The insane Arabs suicide bombers were scarier than the rational Russians and we never blocked them based on race.
Black people had four hundred years of brutal slavery & poverty. The white supremacist governments used segregation against us and now want us to use it on their enemy, not our enemy but their enemies.
During the centuries of slavery Africa has been invaded & owned by European countries, diamonds stolen gold gone.
Perpetually suppressed with wars. In the 2000s the commercials steadily slandered Africa and made it out to be in a total famine, unable to feed itself and in need of Europeans to save it.
All of that.... now Africa is back in style the BBC says Africa can feed everyone.
It is stunning & wrong that we are to segregate & deny business to others based on race or nationality.
Our ancestors were slaves under the UK legal system, had no rights automatically and now our spineless politicians allow this territory to be used as a tool to persecute Russians based on race. Whether Venezuela or Russia it is the average person who is affected by sanctions not the governments.
The regular people have zero involvement with high level political decisions much like us in the VI.
This place and its politics does not reflect the feelings of the people at all. It is not a democracy or this decision which harms our economy & financial trust would have been voted on. When the VI was a poor bird sanctuary that is when we had a brief moment of free political will, peace and low crime.
As Christians we are taught to forgive not hold grudges, as formerly enslaved people we should not stand for any racist legislation, especially not our home built non-given but hard fought industries to be used as racial warfare.
As a past enslaved people we have zero involvement with those EU people's war and any war the UK wants to mix us up into. Go draft your own people and let us be friends with who we want to based on mutual respect... not colonial entitlement.
All in all watch out for those people asking for business to Russia 50/50 they are from the UK. Dont put it past the UK agents to set up VI people as they did before and in many other places like Ireland & India. 007 wasnt born out of thin air.
We are so apathetic after generations of slavery to racism it is like we should move back to a plantation, and put the cuffs on ourselves. Some will be happy to hold the whip. The slaves were not payed now we are free all we care about is money and miss the big picture.
The EX slave trading nations prints out money not backed by anything, not gold nor silver and our people sell their lives, time & soul for money. WAKE UP.
The UK is a B***h
We can not go to the UK and say because of climate change you need to reduce your pollution and it leads to 22% reduction of your income.
They would go insane at 22% loss. When the people in the Uk were forced to give up slavery they had to be paid off compensation for releasing the slaves. For years!