Chairman of the Anguilla Chapter of the Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners (STEP), Carlyle Rogers, has been meeting with the Chairman of the world-wide organisation, Helene Lewis, on matters related to offshore finance services on the island and in the Caribbean region generally.
They both met with members of the local media on Friday, May 10, after having attended a regional conference in St. Kitts. Mr. Rogers, who called the press conference, outlined the functions of STEP and how it seeks to protect the financial industry. “All of us are supposed to be aware of the major threats facing the offshore industry – whether it is the EU, the G8 and the G5 in the case of Anguilla, the G20 (which has been on the back of the offshore centres since 2009, when the economic crisis hit the previous year) and the FATF and so forth,” he said.
“The major goals of STEP now are to educate the citizens of the offshore finance centres, meet with senior government officials and to brief them about the major challenges facing the industry. The intention is also to gain ideas as to how we are going to survive in an increasingly hostile world.”
Mr. Rogers noted that the financial services industry in Anguilla was not as big as that in the BVI and Caymans but would nevertheless suffer a big blow from any serious challenge. “Although the threats would have a less impact, if our industry closes down – and with the tourism sector being so weak – it would still have major consequences for us,” he pointed out. “This is a golden opportunity for us to brief the press so that it understands the work that STEP does, and for there to be greater interface and a deeper understanding of what we do,” he said. The STEP Anguilla Chapter was founded in 2001 and Mr. Rogers, has been Chairman since 2009. His term ends later this year.
Mrs. Helene Lewis, a national of Trinidad, has been residing in the BVI for many years. She is the first female Chairman of STEP worldwide, from the Caribbean region, and is the third woman to hold the post in the organisation’s 22-year history. “We are a society committed to the continuing professional development of our members,” she explained. “In that regard we associate with the company’s Law Training Institute, and the University of Manchester, to provide a number of certificates, diplomasand degrees in international tax planning, estate planning and wealth management.
“Our membership has grown to 18,500 members in 90 countries and we have a very broad reach. The Caribbean and Latin America jurisdictions now number about 15 and we come together annually to hold a conference which was held this year in St. Kitts.We had about 220 delegates and 50 sponsors to discuss the issues that affect our industry.”
Mrs. Lewis said that, among other matters, the conference looked at how the region’s international finance centres were being assessed by such global bodies as the FATF and OECD. The meeting examined how STEP could find ways to cooperate and collaborate in order to improve its voice at the table where matters that affect the region’s economies are decided.
“We think that coming out of the conference will be some interesting discussions, particularly among the Caribbean offshore territories, which we hope that STEP will be able to facilitate in our role as public policy advisers to our membership,” Mrs. Lewis told the reporters. “We do not particularly advise governments, but we empower our branch committees with information and knowledge so that they can provide support for their government decision-makers; influence decisions; and provide more information to bureaucrats and technocrats within the civil service as to how the industry can be affected by the various international initiatives.”
To that end, Mrs. Lewis, accompanied by Mr. Rogers, met with senior Anguilla Government officials mainly in the Ministry of Finance. Those at the meeting included Dr. Aidan Harrigan, Dr. Wycliffe Fahie, Perin Bradley and Haydn Hughes (in the absence of the Chief Minister and Minister of Finance).
Mr. Rogers was of the view that the meeting was very useful. “We felt that government, both at ministerial and senior civil service levels, were not sufficiently aware of the issues that the industry faces – as well as had the necessary competences and skills to deal with them,” he added. “This is not a negative criticism but the finance persons deal with the day-to-day business of the island, whereas we have a more outer world look because our business doesn’t come from the man down the street. It comes from the investment banker, the corporate service agent, the law firm and other firms from different parts of the world.”
