RAISE COUNTRY RISK ON ANGUILLA

If you are a compliance officer, and have been reading our continuing series exposing corruption and misconduct in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, you know the story of a foreign lawyer who employed the territory's International Business Corporation (IBC) in a failed attempt at fraud, and that she was assisted in her criminal acts by individuals in both the private as well as public sectors. We understand that this case is not an isolated event, but part of a local corporate culture, where both the financial services industry and the Office of the Registrar will bend and even break the laws, and the regulations, to assist in illegal activity on behalf of foreign clients using IBCs.

Therefore, compliance officers at international financial institutions that encounter business organizations incorporated in Anguilla, as well as professionals who clients, customers and counterparties use, hold or maintain corporations or other entities formed or organized in Anguilla, should review the available information, and decide whether to increase Country Risk on Anguilla. This caution should extend to any situation where beneficial ownership, corporate status, or use of an Anguilla company appears, or is intended for use. 

Given our recent investigation, it is humbly suggested that compliance officers charged with the assessment of Country Risk increase their level assigned for Anguilla to High Risk, meaning that the jurisdiction is to be avoided as part of your risk-based compliance program.