St Helena : St. Helena Business News (22/12/05)
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 23.12.2005 (Article Archived on 06.01.2006)
The investment initiative is warmly welcomed by the Bank of St. Helena.
BUSINESS NEWS FROM ST. HELENA
Government Acts to Stimulate Investment
A recent review by the Financial Secretary revealed two aspects of the Stamp Duty rules which appeared to be inhibiting the development of the private sector.
Local businesses were found to be reluctant to incorporate companies because of Stamp Duty payable when assets are transferred from the individuals to the new company. Separately, it appeared that the way Stamp Duty applied to bank overdraft arrangements was making people reluctant to fund investment by borrowing.
The Stamp Duties Order 2005 seeks to resolve both issues. An exemption is created so that Stamp Duty is not payable on a transfer of land made by the incorporators to a new company within three months of the formation of the company.
Separately, an amendment to the section dealing with Stamp Duty on mortgages will mean (when applied along with a revision of the legal form, on which the Attorney General is having discussions with Bank of St. Helena) that a single fixed duty of £10 will be due when an overdraft is first arranged. Previously, the fee recurred annually and was related to the amount of the overdraft.
Enquiries about the new Duties may be addressed to the Attorney General, at Essex House; those about company formation to the Registrar of Companies (also in Essex House). Information about Bank of St. Helena lending facilities is available from the Bank.
Public Relations/Information Office, Office of the Chief Secretary, 22 December 2005
ST HELENA ACCESS PROJECT UPDATE
A number of well known companies have joined forces to form three consortia and submitted capability statements in respect of the airport design, build and operate contract.
A capability statement is a document that identifies a company’s expertise & experience, financial status, previous achievements and potential.
All companies who wished to formally respond to the St Helena airport contract notice, published in the Official Journal of the European Union and other international publications on 19th October, 2005, were invited to submit their capability statements by 12pm on Friday, 16th December.
We can confirm that twelve companies have pooled their resources and areas of expertise and formed three separate consortia. All three have formally submitted capability statements.
Atkins will now review the three responses on behalf of the St Helena Government and DFID to determine if they are fully compliant with the notice and to advise on how to take the competition forward.
We will make public the names of the consortia and companies as soon as their statements have been checked for compliance and their agreement has been obtained. This is likely to be sometime in January 2006
Meanwhile, we will continue to keep you up to date with the project progress.
Sharon Wainwright
St Helena Access Project Manager
20TH December 2005
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