A question asked to Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Victor Banks, by one of the persons at the business forum, related to Anguilla’s financial industry. The questioner wanted to know how that sector was contributing to the island’s economy.
Mr. Banks replied in part that the Government of Anguilla had been trying to promote financial services throughout the years, and had launched the Acorn System which put the island in a very good position to form companies online within 24 hours. It was something Anguilla had high hopes for, but it came at a time when there was a lot of scrutiny and oversight of financial services. As a result the system did not go to the extent as was hoped.
“To my mind, the level of growth we were expecting did not occur and we continued to get more and more regulations – and the developed world continues to impose on us stricter and stricter regulations,” he stated. “As a consequence, I believe we are moving at a very low pace. The Commercial Registry is now a department with over fourteen persons so there are a lot of personnel working on regulations, but there is not a lot of business. I am sure that practitioners in the industry are concerned about where this is going, but at the end of the day it is the reality. There is more and more scrutiny; more and more attempts by the Anguilla Government to find niche markets. There are more and more attempts by financial centres like Cayman, BVI and Bermuda to check with all the regulations coming out – and to be compliant.
“We keep hearing about blacklist and all kinds of lists. These are means whereby the developed world has continued to put more pressure on us to meet the regulations that they have imposed. We get involved in meetings and discussions, but I believe that at the end of the day the rules of the game are set elsewhere. We are continue to struggle and I am sure that there are members within the financial services sector who have those experiences, and are aware that the hands of the Government of Anguilla are tied in many ways as to how we will meet some of these regulations.
“At the end of the day we need to focus on other areas of the economy. Those areas are tourism, fisheries development, e-commerce sectors that are now emerging – and other ways in which we can diversify our tourism economy and other aspects of our economy as well. Financial services are an area which we are going to move very cautiously into because there are a lot of regulations and the time has come for us to make up our mind as to where we are going.”
Ms. Palmovan Webster, Leader of the Opposition, and a leading name in offshore financial services, made the following statement:
“Thank you very much Chief Minister for sharing those thoughts. Insofar as you indicated that I might be in agreement with you, that regulations and external forces have been responsible for suppressing the financial industry, I think I should go on record by saying that’s not in fact my view.
“My view is a view that I previously expressed and is quite well-known in the financial services sector. It is our Government’s failure historically, and now, to recognise or pursue opportunities in a ready way – and this has actually been the main reason, in my view, that we have not been able to lead in that industry. I want to put on record as well that, in relation to the case study provided by Lynwood Bell, I agree that if Anguilla had shown any interest in any position [in the financial industry], we might well have been [farther ahead]. Going forward, I hope and trust that experts in financial services in Anguilla, and outside Anguilla, who are friends of Anguilla, will be consulted before we give up on this industry.
“I think that as recently as three or four years ago, in the context of the banking crisis, that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund actually identified that financial services should remain the second opportunity for [Anguilla’s development].”
