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Antigua puts offshore sector under scrutiny

Posted by CaribShout on July 1, 2009 at 4:17pm
ST JOHN'S, Antigua, June 25, 2009 - Offshore companies in Antigua and Barbuda are now under the scrutiny of local authorities as a consequence of the criminal charges filed against the former boss of the country's financial regulatory body over his involvement in an alleged fraud at the Stanford International Bank (SIB). Finance Minister Harold Lovell said in an interview on Observer Radio yesterday that in addition to firing the Financial Services Regulatory Commission (FSRC) administrator and Chief Executive Officer Leroy King and temporarily replacing him with banking official Everett Christian, the Cabinet has instructed the agency to take a closer look at other businesses in the offshore sector. "The Board has been instructed to conduct immediately, a compliance audit of all registered companies," he said. "We want to make sure that the world can see that in light of what has happened we are not simply sitting down and doing nothing. We are taking proactive steps, so that is why we have ordered the compliance audit, to ensure that there are no other situations like this." The audit will be led by the interim FSRC CEO Christian, Country Manager of the Antigua and Barbuda Investment Bank and head of the Antigua and Barbuda Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He will hold the top position at the FSRC for six months, during which time the Board will advertise the position. Lovell added that a public relations campaign will be created to in an effort to repair the damage caused by the development. "We have given a directive to the Board that they should look to hire a communications consultant or public relations company in order to address this issue so that we can fight back as far as the image of Antigua and Barbuda is concerned," the Finance Minister said. At the same time, he said, he did not believe that the situation would have much of an impact on the island's online gaming industry or its dispute with the United States on that matter. Lovell said he is expected to meet with new US Trade Representative Ambassador Ron Kirk, who was appointed by the new Barack Obama administration, to discuss the issue soon. "He has responded to the correspondence that I sent and indicated that he would be willing to meet with me, so we are now making arrangements through the Embassy in Washington for a meeting to be held, as soon as possible, so that we can recommence the discussions toward finding an amicable settlement to this matter," he explained. Meantime, there has been no indication that Antigua and Barbuda's placement on the United Kingdom's white list of countries of approved gaming jurisdictions is in jeopardy. The UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) which is responsible for the law regulating gambling, has given no indication of any imminent review of the country's status, even though it said this week that all jurisdictions, including Antigua & Barbuda, are subject to continuing monitoring to ensure compliance with criteria. The uncertainty facing Antigua and Barbuda has arisen from allegations that the former FSRC head helped investor Sir Allen Stanford carry out an alleged US$8 billion fraud at the Antigua-based SIB, by "looking the other way" as it happened. US regulators claim that King received hundreds of thousands of dollars and other gifts from Sir Allen to conduct sham audits and examinations of the Bank's books. He is specifically charged with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, conspiracy to launder illegal proceeds and conspiracy to obstruct the United States' Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in their investigations into Sir Allen and SIB.

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