VI financial services sector vital to world economy – Philip Graham
Graham was among the guests on a special edition of Speak Out BVI last evening April 26, 2016 where the subject was the financial services sector.
The other guests on the panel were Director of the Financial Services Implementation Unit, Kedrick E. Malone; Partner at Conyers Dill & Pearman and BVI Forward Endorser, Robert Briant; Tour Operator and BVI Forward Champion, Julio 'Sam' Henry and Harneys Associate and BVI Forward Mentor, Kimberly Crabbe-Adams.
The show was hosted by Natalio D. Wheatley aka Sowande Uhuru and aired on ZBVI 780 AM.
VI 'ticking the right boxes'
“If you look at the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and at the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) recommendations, these are global bodies which have investigated the BVI and have said yes the BVI is prime for business, the BVI is set up appropriately from a regulatory perspective and is conducting itself correctly,” Graham said.
He said the appraisals from all of the independent bodies, the signing up by the territory of tax agreements with other countries around the world, one can see that the VI is constantly “ticking the right boxes” at the right time and is continuing to do that.
Graham said the financial services that the VI provides are not only legitimate but necessary in the global economy. “If it were not for the BVI doing what we do the global economy would suffer significantly,” he said.
While he said that there was a lot of negative press regarding the territory coming after the Panama Papers leak, there was some positive press also.
“What we offer is absolutely critical, beneficial and necessary and everyone should be proud of it frankly,” he said.
Increasing FS awareness
On Saturday, April 30, 2016 a similar BVI Forward panel will engage with teenagers on the popular show, Teen Talk which also airs on ZBVI Radio from 10:00 am.
“The BVI Forward education and awareness campaign will also include bi-weekly newspaper columns, public services announcements on radio and television and regular social media updates on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube,” a release from BVI Forward said.
It said that additionally, all of the information disseminated during the campaign will be available on the BVI Forward website, www.bviforward.vg. “The ultimate goal of the BVI Forward outreach is to increase awareness among the [VI] population and develop a greater understanding of financial services, its importance of to the [VI] economy and its impact on the daily lives of residents,” the release said.
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11 Responses to “VI financial services sector vital to world economy – Philip Graham”
I listened to Team Bvi on radio last evening and truth be told, the discussion was pretty interesting with a positive feel. However, the facts still remain; competition from other jurisdictions, the negative light in which Offshore jurisdictions are seen, (as home for tax dodgers) and by the G8 countries who believe they are loosing tax dollars because of our Success.
In better economic times when economies around the world were in better shape, less attention was being paid to us. As a result we were doing better with less scrutiny. All that has changed, and as economic challenges and countries are felt around the globe, there will be more focus on countries growing their tax base. It now seems that we will forever be under the microscope..
We took our eyes off tourism; including downgrading the tourism budget. Unfortunately, its going to take us much effort and dollars to get back on track; including the hundreds , of millions for the airport and more millions for road infrastructure.
Hind sight is 20/20 with the ability to see things and plan with clearer vision. Unfortunately when the offshore dollars were flowing in, they were likewise flowing right back out. The Green houses became an afterthought, zero dollars were put into fishing, roads and infrastructure were left unattended and now our situation for improving our situation in any given area means, Borrowing and Raising Taxes.
Hope BVI has government delegates attending!