St Helena : St Helena Tackles Money Laundering
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 18.06.2008 (Article Archived on 02.07.2008)
Further work has been conducted on the draft legislation to protect St Helena from unwanted money laundering and financial services.
Financial Services and Money Laundering
Drafts are Back out for Public Consultation
Further work has been conducted on the draft legislation to protect St Helena from unwanted money laundering and financial services.
Attorney General, Ken Baddon said that the further work is a result of recent public consultation meetings which were hosted by the Attorney General and the Banking Supervisor, Alan Savery. At these meetings, various points and concerns were raised by the public and these have now been considered.
Since the Bills will extend to international investors who might want to do business with St Helena, the St Helena Government has also discussed the drafts with lawyers in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department For International Development.
The Financial Services legislation will regulate the establishment and operation of financial services business on the Island. Examples of such businesses might include businesses such as banking, insurance agencies and pension funds.
The Money Laundering Legislation will serve to prevent and detect money laundering, and enable any ‘dirty’ money which does reach St. Helena to be confiscated. Specifically, it will help to protect St Helena from criminals who might try to use the island to keep or hide their ill-gotten gains. This is a problem in the outside world, with burglars, drug traffickers, armed robbers and terrorists trying to find somewhere to save their money and St Helena wants to be protected against this.
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Indeed, if St. Helena does not put internationally accepted controls in place, other countries are likely to forbid their businesses from dealing with St. Helenian ones.
For St Helena to develop economically, the legislation is important. If not, some good investors may be less willing to put their money into an Island that is not protected by such legislation.
In the future, the Bills may have to be revisited to ensure that they are robust enough to protect the Island as international financial crime becomes more and more sophisticated.
The updated drafts are in the Public Library for viewing, and are available from the Clerk of Councils. Written comments can be submitted to the Clerk of Councils, or raised with any Councillor. In additional, there will be opportunities to ask questions and make comments at public meetings, the dates of which will be announced separately. Comments should be submitted by the end of July, to allow time for them to be considered before the bills are presented to the Legislative Council in September.
Public Relations/Information Office
Office of the Chief Secretary
18 June 2008
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