(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Antigua and Barbuda is committed to securing the integrity of the regulatory framework of its offshore financial services sector, the Honourable Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda said last Friday.

Speaking at the Opening Ceremony of the Conference on Financial Services of the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) of African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) States and the European Union at the Sandals Grande in St. John’s Antigua and Barbuda, the Prime Minister said that his Government was focused on the implementation of legislative and administrative reforms to strengthen its financial services sector - an action it deemed necessary in the wake of the global financial crisis and the Stanford International Bank debacle.

“The financial services sector is an area in which Antigua and Barbuda has demonstrated competitive advantage, and we are determined to protect it. In so doing, we remain cognizant of our obligations in respect of the 20 Tax Information Exchange Agreements we have signed,” the Prime Minister said.

Among the measures he highlighted that his government had employed to ensure that the sector was above reproof was the appointment of a new Board of Directors of the Financial Services Regulatory Commission (FSRC) in June 2009, with a mandate to restore its capacity and integrity.

“I am pleased to report that among the financial reforms undertaken over the past 12 months, the FSRC has strengthened the guidelines dealing with the selection and appointment of external auditors of financial institutions. These entities are now required to rotate external auditors after a period of 5 years,” he added.

Additionally, he said, the FSRC had “tightened the procedures” used to assess the suitability of directors who are to be appointed to the boards of financial institutions.

Prime Minister Spencer noted that the offshore financial services sector was crucial to the provision of employment, not only for Antiguans, but also for nationals of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, as well as CARICOM and CARIFORUM countries.

The offshore financial services sector had a “significant multiplier effect on our economy,” he stated.

Illustrating how entrenched the sector was in Antigua and Barbuda’s economy in particular, Prime Minister Spencer said that there were 16 International Banks and one International Trust registered with the FSRC. He said that some 700 Antiguans were directly employed in the sector with average annual salaries, statutory contributions and rental income amounting to approximately USD$30 million.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org