New Anguilla Governor Says He'll Kick Ass -- *And* Take Names...

[R.A. Hettinga]

No matter where you go, there they are...

Cheers,
RAH
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<http://www.anguillalife.com/news/stories/local/12272.php>

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GOVERNOR, H.E. ALISTAIR HARRISON'S Says His Immediate Priority will be
Financial Regulation in Anguilla.
Date Posted: May 19, 2009

investigations are ongoing into over $100 million worth of financial
crime involving the Anguilla financial services at the moment

(Anguilla, BWI) - H.E Alistair Harrison in keeping with his promise to
hold regular press conferences, convened the press at Government House
on May 19, 2009 for his second, since taking office in April.

In light of the Attorneys-General from the UKs Overseas Territories
meeting in Anguilla next week, the Governor said he chose to hold the
Press Conference one week earlier than he otherwise would have done,
according to his plan to do so monthly.

In his opening remarks he reminded his audience that the visit by the
British Attorney-General Baroness Scotland is the first by a British
Cabinet Minister to Anguilla for many years and that she will be
accompanied by his boss, the Director of the Overseas Territories
Department in the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO).

Providing an update on his activities since taking office, the
Governor said that he has been quite busy and has worked his way about
half way through his programme visits to the constituencies,
accompanied by the member of the House of Assembly in each case.

I have toured most government departments; I have visited the prison
and the young offenders centre; the airport; the seaports and the
public library; and I have visited many of the tourist facilities
which are so important to the economy he stated.

In an apparently engaging tone, the Governor shared some of what he
says is his plan to proceed in his job and said that at this early
stage his thoughts are not set in stone, and that he would very much
welcome feedback from the public.

Of no surprise given the attention that Caribbean Territories have
been receiving in relation to their financial industry, particularly
in the offshore sector, the Governor said that he considers Financial
Regulation to be the most urgent area of the five within his
responsibility, namely; defence, external relations, internal
security, good governance and the oversight of financial regulation.

Drawing a strong reference to the current global financial crisis, he
said that there is a greater global spotlight on so-called tax
havens, adding, we can agree with the concept or not, but we have to
live with the fact - the G20, the OECD and other international bodies
are taking an ever greater interest in jurisdictions that are open to
financial business from the rest of the world.

The OECD refers to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development which is a group of 30 wealthy nations who issue a
blacklist of jurisdictions (offshore financial centers) they term
tax havens and deem not cooperative in exchanging tax information.
Some in the US have estimated that as much as $100 billion in tax
revenues are lost each year due to offshore banking. The
administration of newly elected president Barack Obama recently
endorsed far-reaching legislation to crack down on such jurisdictions,
shortly after returning from the 5th Summit of the Americas, Port of
Spain, Trinidad held in April, a blow that was perhaps not expected so
soon by several of his counterparts.

Anguilla appears on OECDs gray list -those who say they will but have
yet to act to comply with rules on sharing tax information. The list
includes: Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas,
Bahrain, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cook
Islands, Costa Rica, Dominica, Gibraltar, Grenada, Liberia,
Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Monaco, Montserrat, Nauru,
Netherlands Antilles, Niue, Panama, Philippines, St. Kitts and Nevis,
St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Turks and
Caicos Islands, Uruguay and Vanuatu.

In his remarks Governor Harrison, said, this greater international
interest in what jurisdictions like Anguilla are doing represents not
a threat but a major opportunity for Anguilla. A view perhaps not
shared by many in locations that are blacklisted.

He continued:

Anguilla is about to achieve a significant milestone in its history
as it plans to bring into law the newly drafted Proceeds of Crime Bill
and a clutch of accompanying legislation. This legislation will be the
cornerstone of Anguilla's efforts to achieve a "compliant" rating from
the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force, which is in the process of
undertaking its mutual evaluation exercise for Anguilla. The passing
into law of this legislation will help Anguilla achieve the
internationally recognised 40 + 9 Financial Action Task Force
recommendations. This will enable Anguilla to show how serious we are
in the global fight against money laundering and terrorist finance.
And this is no theoretical goal - investigations are ongoing into over
$100 million worth of financial crime involving the Anguilla financial
services at the moment - mainly involving money that is passing
through Anguilla from other jurisdictions. The PoC Bill will not
create any new offences, but it will enable the relevant authorities
to recover the proceeds of criminal activity much more easily. Current
legislation does not offer adequate protection from international
money launderers and terrorist financiers.

He voiced the opinion that the new Bill will attract legitimate
business away from other jurisdictions with less good regimes and
enhance the islands reputation.

His remarks continued:

I am aware that there is some concern that the Bill will place
burdens on small businesses with the risk of criminalisation of those
who are unable to meet them. I don't want to downplay the importance
for all businesses to meet the standards, and I know that there are
always problems of adjustment to a new regime. But the Bill does not
create any new offences, and I hope that the inconveniences will be
commensurate with the gains to everyone. I am confident the benefits
will outweigh the costs. In particular, businesspeople who suspect
that one of their clients is handling illegitimate money can report
that suspicion immediately for investigation instead of risking being
ensnared by the law after the event. And the new Bill and its
attendant regulation should also make the law in this area much
clearer, which is also good for the layman and for business.

My role in the regulation of the financial services industry here is
of course played with the help of many others - the Government of
Anguilla and in particular its Finance Ministry; the Financial
Services Commission; and the Financial Intelligence Unit in the
police. I look forward to working with all of them over the next three
years to make Anguilla an ever more attractive destination for
legitimate financial business; and to make it ever more secure against
the money launderers and terrorist financiers of this world. To
paraphrase John Donne again - never send to know for whom the bell
tolls: it tolls for them.