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Letter from Bermuda: PLP mired in corruption scandals

September 30, 2002
In 1998, when Bermuda's Progressive Labour Party (PLP) took office for the first time in its 34 year history, the general view was that a generation or two would pass before the party would be unseated. The self confessed black

Italy: Mauricio Raggio et al

September 9, 2002
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Italy into Mauricio Raggio and Rocio Zaldivar Mercado for alleged money laundering regarding the proceeds of corruption by the former Secretary of the Italian Socialist Party Benedetto Craxi, a.k.a. Bettino Craxi.

Letter from Bermuda: Insurance boom comes with its own set of problems

August 31, 2002
Since the mid-1980s, Bermuda's insurance sector has grown to become the island's main source of business. The protracted, relentless collapse of the tourism sector since 1989 has eroded the notion that Bermuda leans on "twin pillars" of industry. One-third, probably, of Bermuda's overnight visitors are now here on business. Risk-related business fills a larger fraction of Bermuda-bound airline seats.

Letter from Bermuda: Bermuda’s work permit mess

July 31, 2002
Bermuda's work permit situation has deteriorated to the point where it has all the hallmarks of a Keystone cops comedy routine, except that it's not funny.Months and months are passing between the approval of a work permit application and the issue of the permit. In the case of an annual permit, it has become normal, if that is the word, to wait eight or nine months for permission to work. By the time the permit arrives, it is time to reapply for next year's permission. (Employees may work once the application has been filed, but they may be deported if their application is refused.)

Latin America Round-Up: June 30, 2002

June 30, 2002
ARGENTINA: BGN fiasco unfolds; COLOMBIA: Perception of corruption increases; ECUADOR: Failure in international bid; GUATEMALA: New regulations in Guatemala; "Twin  banks" investigated since 1996; MEXICO: The honeymoon is over in Mexico; NICARAGUA: $2 million lost in Nicaragua; The high life of a president; …And Taiwan wants its money back; and PANAMA: Welcome to Panama.

Letter from Bermuda: Taxi Drivers Rule

June 30, 2002
That Bermuda's taxi drivers are a law unto themselves was proven when a bill to regulate them, which they had bitterly opposed, was defeated in the Senate in June. Equally exposed was the inability of a lawmaker unto himself to make law for the rest of us.

Letter From Bermuda: Premier Jennifer Smith clings to power

May 31, 2002
A political situation is building in Bermuda that could lead to the collapse of the ruling Progressive Labour Party before its first term of office is fulfilled. The party's backbench, routinely ignored when important decisions are being made, has openly

PLP wins Bahamas election

May 3, 2002
Although the official results have not yet been announced, it has become clear that the Progressive Liberal Party has won the General Election in the Bahamas by a wide margin over the ruling Free National Movement party.One of the more

Trinidad & Tobago: Piarco International Airport

March 20, 2002
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Trinidad and Tobago regarding alleged corruption involving the Piarco International Airport Construction Contract.

‘US has not approached us for Enron help’, says Cayman Gov’t

February 11, 2002
The Cayman Islands Government has offered to co-operate with United States authorities in their investigation into the collapse of Enron Corp.  However, the U.S. has not yet formally requested any assistance, according to a Cayman Government press release dated February 8, 2002.  Enron had approximately 600 subsidiaries registered in Cayman. None of them were listed in the local telephone directory and it is likely that they comprised little more than pieces of paper in filing cabinets at the offices of the Cayman law firm of Hunter & Hunter, which provided registered agent services to Enron.

Letter from Bermuda: To be or not to be! (part of the UK)

January 31, 2002
The British decision, announced a couple of weeks ago, to share sovereignty over Gibraltar with Spain has caused at least one Bermudian commentator fits of apoplexy over possible implications for Bermuda. Roger Crombie writes a weekly finance column called "Penny Wise" in the Mid-Ocean News, a sister publication of Bermuda's only daily newspaper, The Royal Gazette. Penny Wise is a mix of financial advice and interpretations of current economic events.

Letter from Bermuda: As tourism falters, insurance keeps Bermuda’s economy ticking

December 31, 2001
Late in November, the government's chief economic advisor broke with many years of tradition and gave us the bad news straight. He informed us that Bermuda will be in recession for both this year and next. 2001 will see a reduction in gross national product of 0.4 percent, and 2002 will see a further contraction of 1.5 percent.Our tourism industry, which has been in decline for 13 years, is now on the critical list. The events of September 11 have produced lamentable occupancy rates in our hotels, just after the Big Five resort hotels in Bermuda renewed their paintwork to the tune of about $70 million.

Letter From Bermuda: Educashun – Graveyard for local politicians

November 30, 2001
Bermuda being a democracy, we are subject to the influences of neither the Taliban nor Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe. The extreme and unpleasant views embraced by both groups are not entirely absent from our midst, however, and a gross embarrassment they

St. Vincent: Money Talks and Nano Walks

November 30, 2001
A claim by St Vincent &the Grenadines that it is serious about combating financial crime was dealt a blow on November 22 when it allowed suspected money launderer Thierry Nano to avoid an arrest warrant.Nano flew from the island on

Letter from Bermuda: PLP loses what little authority it had left

October 31, 2001
Statistically, Bermuda's losses from the events of September 11 dwarf those of any other country on the planet.Two Bermudians died in the World Trade Center attacks. With fewer than 60,000 Bermudians in total, on a per capita basis, that's twice

Newt Utopia: Cayman Islands – The Fruits of Appeasement

August 31, 2001
I have been going to Cayman since the early 1980s and I have never seen so much change occur in a small place in such a short time. I still remember the raid on the Bank of Credit & Commerce International when, in the wee hours of the morning, I got to watch the first part of the raid from the parking lot of Burger King across the way from their building, which began with an Armored Personnel Carrier full of soldiers arriving at BCCI's offices. The suits came the next morning.

Letter from Bermuda: A new approach to problem-solving

August 31, 2001
The wave of euphoria that Progressive Labour Party Premier Jennifer Smith and her followers rode back in 1998 has all but dashed itself against the shore.Since those heady days, Government has delivered on all, or none, of the promises it made back then, depending on your point of view.

Refco Capital Markets among those ‘named and shamed’ by Bermuda Government

August 31, 2001
Financial services firm Refco Capital Markets Ltd. is one of four Bermuda-based four that is due to appear in court on September 6 for allegedly failing to comply with a new law aimed at promoting racial equality.It is part of a government policy of "naming and shaming" firms that do not participate in its exercise in racial profiling.

Incriminating FIBG documents

July 4, 2001
In the public interest, we have posted two new documents on our web-site about the First International Bank of Grenada, which can be downloaded from www.offshorebusiness.com/fibgpage.htm.   Both documents are emails that were sent last year, one from FIBG founder Van Brink to Tai Hastey on March 28, 2001 and the other from British barrister Lawrence Jones to Brink on June 8, 2000.

Suisse Security Bank & Trust fights for its license

March 31, 2001
Bahamas-based Suisse Security Bank & Trust filed an application at the Bahamas Supreme Court on March 29, 2001 to reverse what it has called "a purported out-of-court appointed receivership". The Respondents in the lawsuit are Julian Francis, who is the Governor of the Central Bank of the Bahamas; the Attorney-General of the Bahamas and SSBT's Receiver, accountant Raymond Winder.

Nevis regulator leaves after just five months

March 31, 2001
Thomas Peacock, who was appointed Regulator for Financial Services in Nevis, effective October 1, 2000, has quit his position five months into a two-year contract, leaving on March 9, 2001.

Trinidad & Tobago: Maurice Chin Aleong

March 16, 2001
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Trinidad & Tobago for Judicial Assistance into an allegedly fraudulent request to transfer US$373,000 from an account controlled by the Ministry of Education Secondary Modernization Programme at the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago to an account in the name of Resource Pioneer in Education (RESPECT) at Wells Fargo Bank in Reno, Nevada.

Niue complains about US ban on monetary transactions

February 28, 2001
The offshore financial center of Niue has had sanctions placed on it's banking industry by the United States that is having a serious impact on the island's economy, it was reported recently.Niue Prime Minister Sani Lakatani told a Pacific Leaders Conference in January that the US had forbidden cash transfers to Niue or any of its entities in New Zealand or Australia, reported the French-based news agency Agence France Presse.

IBC formations plummet in the Bahamas

February 28, 2001
Figures released by the Registrar General of the Bahamas show that only 781 IBCs were registered on the island in January, 2001, compared with 3,368 in the corresponding month of 2000.

IRS gains access to offshore credit card accounts

October 31, 2000
A US judge has ordered that American Express and MasterCard must hand over records to the IRS relating to Americans utilizing offshore credit, charge and debit cards through three offshore centers. The ex parte order, issued on October 30, 2000 at the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, specifically relates to accounts linked with Antigua, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.

Bahamas government allows IBCs to conduct business locally

October 31, 2000
The Bahamas government has announced that IBCs will be allowed to compete for business with local companies. It is now likely that other offshore jurisdictions like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands will follow suit since the change in the Bahamas has only come about because of international pressure.

FIBG put into receivership, more amazing revelations from Grenada

August 31, 2000
After allowing tens of millions of dollars to disappear and the crooks to flee the island, Grenada's government finally took over the First International Bank of Grenada this month. Government accountant Garvey Louison was appointed Receiver of FIBG on August 1 and immediately started preparing to liquidate the bank and all of its sub-banks.

Offshore Financial Centers capitulate to international pressure

July 31, 2000
The governments of offshore financial centers have moved with unprecedented haste in changing their regulatory and supervisory systems in order to be removed from international 'hit lists'.Rather than attempt to group together and negotiate with foreign agencies from a position of strength, many governments have capitulated to international pressure and rushed through emergency legislation.

Major countries strike hard against offshore centers

June 30, 2000
The high stakes poker game between onshore and offshore governments lost six players recently but another 35 have 12 months to decide whether the OECD is bluffing with the threat of sanctions.Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Malta, Mauritius and San Marino have all signed an 'Advanced Letter of Commitment' agreeing to co-operate with international tax investigations.

Grenada regulator Michael Creft is ‘apparently corrupt’, says FIBG auditor

April 30, 2000
Grenada's Registrar of Offshore Financial Services, Michael Creft, was described last year as being "apparently corrupt" by the first accountant who attempted to audit the books of the First International Bank of Grenada. In a letter to Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, Lauriston Wilson wrote that Creft's actions relating to FIBG were "suspect and lead to the inescapable conclusion that he is apparently corrupt".

OECD backs off publishing an offshore ‘hit list’

April 30, 2000
The much-vaunted publication of a tax haven 'hit list' by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has been put off for at least a year. The OECD had planned to name those territories deemed to engage in "harmful tax practices" in June of this year, after which the 29 OECD member countries would seek to punish those on the list by introducing "defensive measures".

UK pressures offshore centers to report suspicious tax transactions

March 31, 2000
Anyone who still has doubts that UK Overseas Territories such as the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands and the Turks & Caicos Islands will be forced to co-operate with foreign tax investigations should read a paper published by the UK Treasury in February. Titled 'Exchange of Information and the Draft Directive on Taxation of Savings', it makes it clear that UK Overseas Territories are being pressured not only to co-operate with requests for information on tax matters but to take the initiative and report suspicious tax-related transactions.

STW Fixed Income Management expalins why it is leaving Bermuda

March 31, 2000
In announcing its decision to relocate from Bermuda, STW Fixed Income Management, which employs 18 people on the island and managed about $10 billion in assets, was highly critical of the PLP government. The company's CEO, American national William H. Williams, issued a news release in which he essentially accused the PLP government of not understanding the needs of international businesses and of implementing policies which he said would be "disastrous" to the economy. 

The Expat Strikes Back: Fat cat parasites and xenophobic windbags

March 31, 2000
A letter has become the topic of heated debate in Bermuda since it was published in the 'Letters to the Editor' section of The Royal Gazette newspaper in February, 2000. It was written against a backdrop of politicians and locals accusing expatriates of stealing their jobs and putting a strain on Bermuda's infrastructure. Expatriates in Bermuda would generally suffer such criticism in silence through fear of having their work permits revoked but the situation has become so intense that one company boss risked took the risk of putting his anger in writing. Although the author's identity is being withheld at his or her request, Gazette editor Bill Zuill confirmed to this newsletter that the letter was genuine and that it was indeed written by an 'Expat CEO'. While foreign workers generally welcomed the letter, many were nevertheless dismayed by its use of colourful and antagonistic language, which they believed detracted from its central theme

Trouble in Paradise: PLP threatens to derail the Bermuda gravy train

March 31, 2000
There are signs that the relatively new Bermuda government is in the early stages of antagonizing international businesses in a scenario that is eerily similar to the Bahamas of 30 years ago. Over the last six weeks, the Progressive Labour Party has raised payroll tax from 12 to 12.75 per cent and announced plans to restrict the length of many work permits to six years and make employers report the racial composition of their workforce and of people interviewed for job vacancies.

Bahamas contemplates greater transparency for IBCs

February 29, 2000
The Bahamas is reviewing its IBC laws with a view to making offshore companies more transparent but don't expect changes any time soon. Finance Minister William Allen said that the Bahamas would not be a leader in introducing transparency legislation.

Wellington Bank & Trust – same scam, different name

January 31, 2000
Offshore Alert has uncovered another highly dubious Grenada-registered bank that is owned by a former bankrupt. Wellington Bank & Trust, which was incorporated on July 27, 1998, is owned by John Edward Brinker Jr. and Gary Joel Bentz, who are both based in Ohio.

Latest on massive Grenada banking fraud

January 31, 2000
Offshore Alert can this month reveal further disturbing details about the massive financial fraud that is being committed on the island of Grenada in what appears to be a joint effort between the island's government and the private sector. What is currently taking place in Grenada mirrors what happened in Montserrat in the late 1980s when approximately 300 'paper' banks established with phantom capital defrauded foreign clients of tens of millions of dollars before eventually being closed down by the UK police in 1989/90.

BVI implements new anti-money laundering measures

November 30, 1999
The British Virgin Islands government has implemented two new measures designed to combat money laundering. They are the Anti-Money Laundering Code of Practice (made under section 27 of the Proceeds of Criminal Conduct Act) and the Proceeds of Criminal Conduct (Designated Countries and Territories) Order 1999 (made under section 32 of the Proceeds of Criminal Conduct Act 1997).

Nevis drafts law to regulate offshore service providers

August 31, 1999
A final draft of the regulatory legislation providing for the supervision and licensing of offshore service providers is currently circulating in Nevis. The Service Providers Supervision Ordinance 1999 is expected to become law later this year.

Privy Council upholds Bermuda’s ban on fast-food restaurant chains

July 31, 1999
The UK Privy Council has thwarted plans by private entrepreneurs, led by former Premier Sir John Swan, to take Bermuda down-market by opening US fast-food franchises on the island.The court of appeal rejected an appeal by Swan's company, Grape Bay Ltd., to strike down Bermuda's Prohibited Restaurants Act, which was enacted in 1996 in a bid to stop Swan from opening a McDonald's restaurant.