St Helena : Locally Registered Company Sells Gaming and Banking Licenses
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 10.04.2006 (Article Archived on 24.04.2006)

Safeholder is a company registered on St Helena. The company is operated from Association Hall in Jamestown with the Chief Operating Officer being Mike Olsson. It offers investment opportunities for companies and interested parties. Robin Richards, of Radio St Helena, spoke to Mr Olsson to find out more about Safeholder, and he began by asking; (MO – Mike Olsson, RR – Robin Richards)

Locally Registered Company Sells Gaming and Banking Licenses

Safeholder Financial Services Centre

Safeholder is a company registered on St Helena. The company is operated from Association Hall in Jamestown with the Chief Operating Officer being Mike Olsson. It offers investment opportunities for companies and interested parties. Robin Richards, of Radio St Helena, spoke to Mr Olsson to find out more about Safeholder, and he began by asking; (MO – Mike Olsson, RR – Robin Richards)

What is Safeholder?

MO. It’s a limited company on St Helena

RR. What does it do?

MO. It mainly holds shares in American development companies, software development, medical development companies

RR. Holding shares for companies?

MO. Umm.

RR. On your website, you quote banking licenses and gaming licenses, so does it still do that?

MO. Yeah, but not through St Helena, we are selling them but it’s not a license authorised under St Helena, no.

RR. So it’s not being held on St Helena?

MO. No, no

RR. So do you have any clients at the moment and are you at liberty to discuss those clients?

MO. Yes, we have clients, yes

RR. (Almost) on your website you quote, like I said, the offshore licenses. The common law of St Helena now how does that apply for offshore licenses? Because that is quoted quite heavily on your website; that St Helena is governed by English Common Law; well it appears from your website that is an attractive offer for anybody who wants a banking license.

MO. Yeah, but I think you have misunderstood the issue, that because the license is not issued from St Helena, its just sold through Safeholder, so when it comes to banking licenses, internet gaming licenses have nothing to do with St Helenian law at all.

RR. So, which law does it come under?

MO. It comes under the local law, where the company that buys a license will operate.

RR. So, which law does it come under?

MO. It depends on which country the company is from that it is operating.

RR. So then it will take the license out from whichever country it operates from, so for example if it’s a US company it takes the license out in the US?

MO. Yes then its US law that applies.

RR. To the banking license?

MO. It has nothing to do with St Helena law at all; the license is only sold from here. So it has nothing to do with St Helena law.

Safeholder Financial Services Centre

RR. Also on your website for safeholder, at safeholder.com you quote the St Helena financial services centre. Now it says it can function as a local agent and partner in St Helena to encourage inward investment, is that coming to fruition?

MO. It is, it is, most definitely

RR. Are you at liberty to discuss any examples of this inward investment?

MO. What inward investment? At the moment, we are building funds, but by having the funds available in Safeholder there are possibilities for the future, yeah.

RR. So Safeholder would then invest those funds in some organisation or some venture on St Helena?

MO. Could very well do, yep, but I mean, like very thing else, it is a business and it depends if there are, if any proper opportunity turns up. But at least the money is there for investment if it were deemed profitable to do so.

RR. You said there that the money will be if there for investment if deemed profitable? Would that be an investment in St Helena or would that be an investment any where else in the world?

MO. It can be anywhere, but it can almost be in St Helena.

RR. Would you prefer it to be on St Helena?

MO. I mean it’s not up to me to say because it’s the people that invest the money that have the final saying, if they prefer to be in St Helena.

Safeholder Banking and Gaming Licenses

RR. Just looking also from your website here, the international banking and gaming license. Just going back to that, like you said are the licenses issued under the Republic of Serb-Krajina? Would you like to discuss that?

MO. No problem.

RR. The Republic of Serb-Krajina where is that?

MO. Its, its in the former Yugoslavia.

RR. In the former Yugoslavia?

MO. Uhmm.

RR. It’s an exiled government of the former Serbian Republic Mr Olsson, surely…

MO. Not of the former Serbian Republic, that’s wrong

RR. But its an exiled government, it doesn’t have a country, now…

MO. That depends how you see it, France have recognised, and several other countries, Canada, have um, recognised it as the legitimate government of Serb-Krajina yeah.

RR. I’m not disputing that fact with you, I’m saying the Republic of Serb-Krajina doesn’t have a country. It only has on last count about 4,000 citizens. Now surely if you were issuing a license under that exiled government that is a risky business venture?

MO. No it’s not a risky business venture at all.

RR. No, you wouldn’t consider it a risky business venture?

MO. No, one of the biggest issuer of licenses is that, Indian no not Indian, what do you call them, yes Indian tribe in Canada. If you have a territory that is legitimate then you can issue licenses.

RR. So this is what you are doing? Or what Safeholder is doing?

MO. The exiled government of RSK is doing.

RR. And is that government in any way connected to the St Helenian government, or are they just operating under Safeholder?

MO. No, have nothing to do with St Helena government, because the business has nothing to do with St Helena government.

RR. Okay. Just quoting your website also, it says “St Helena is not a traditional tax haven subject to changing tides of financial regulation” could you explain that a bit more for me please?

MO. Could you repeat that for me please?

RR. On your website its quoted under your “About Us” link, it’s quoted that “St Helena is not a traditional tax haven subject to changing tides of financial regulation. Its international reputation is unblemished. Such an approach would not meet the policy objectives of creating employment opportunities or of enhancing the territory’s inbound capitalization”. Now what do you mean by that?

MO. No, what we are doing, really doesn’t affect St Helena in that sense at all more than it can be money for investment.

Continued in next weeks Herald

Radio St Helena Interview with Mike Olsson of Saint FM and St Helena Independent regarding his website;

Locally Registered Company Sells Gaming and Banking Licenses

Radio St Helena Interview with Mike Olsson of Saint FM and St Helena Independent regarding his website;

Continued from last week’s Herald

RR. So other than potential money for investment there is no reward at all for the island of St Helena?

MO. Well, um, it would be when we get far enough, we are looking at opening a representative office on the island, which would create employment, qualified employment.

RR. Qualified employment how?

MO. If we need a representative office.

RR. Would that be in means of like a secretary and an accountant and those types of qualified people?

MO. Yes

RR. Just looking there, from my interpretation of it, a quote like that would ensure people wanting to invest would not really be concerned about the tax, it would be seen as a tax break, wouldn’t that be a fine assessment? They wouldn’t have to pay traditional tax rates and income tax and things like that?

MO. They would be treated exactly like everybody else because its built on capital gain. We don’t have any capital gain tax in St Helena. Saints don’t have it and people overseas don’t have it.

Banking Licenses - Money Laundering?

RR. So just looking; banking licenses issued under the Republic of Serb-Krajina, through Safeholder which is registered on St Helena, surely would that be quite an attractive offer for money launderers?

MO. Its up to the legislation where they operate from; they are not operating from St Helena. I think there is a misunderstanding.  Every country has got money laundering legislation. More or less every country got. They are still not operating from St Helena,

RR. No what I’m saying…

MO. If it is or not that’s up to the legislation in the country they operate.

RR. What I’m saying is that if for example, use me as an example, as a potential investor. If I’m doing some illegal activity and then decide to invest money into Safeholder in an offshore bank account, then that money goes offshore then I’m not subject to, as I understand it, the legal ramifications of the country I’m legally living in, and therefore that money can come back to me, for lack of a better term, clean money. This is basically the premise of money laundering, as I understand it.

MO. No it doesn’t work like that at all, because to open an internet bank you need a license, but you are subject to the legislation you are operating from, and this has nothing to do with St Helena at all, and every country has their own money laundering legislation to prevent it so that has nothing to do with the banking license itself. Many countries in the world are issuing banking licenses. They are no investors or anything, if you buy a banking license its up to you to follow the legislation of the country where you are operating, so that will work with everything.

RR.

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