TWO STRIKES AGAINST NEVIS; WILL INSOLVENT OFFSHORE BANKS DETER FUTURE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT?

The painfully visible financial troubles of HAMILTON RESERVE BANK and BONI (BANK OF NEW INNOVATION), which have soiled the reputation of Nevis as a trustworthy international financial center, may end up causing High Net Worth Individuals seeking a user-friendly tax haven to begin to avoid the jurisdiction altogether. The fact that the island's regulatory agent, the local branch of the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis Financial Services Regulatory Commission (FSRC) have allowed offshore banks under its supervision to continue to advertise for new clients, while defaulting in servicing depositors by failing to allow withdrawals on demand, and in many cases flat out refusing them their money, has not gone unnoticed in the global investment community.

When you demand minimum seven figure initial deposits, and then take dilatory action when your clients request funds transfers, you not only lose the trust of your customers, but you place the jurisdiction which granted you your license into disrepute, to the extent that the business world starts to give it a wide berth for all intents and purposes. Whether these incipient bank failures will sour foreign investors on the local real estate market itself remains to be seen, but it could have a knock-on effect on demand and pricing.

Prudent advice to FSRC leadership, as well as the island's Premier, MARK BRANTLEY, who was influential in the development of the island's growing offshore sector, is to nip this problem in the bud, through assisting in fair settlement of the victims, directly or indirectly, before the international damage becomes irreparable. There is still time before repairs will be too little and too late, but that moment is fast approaching. My advice to Nevisian government leaders and regulators is to act now, if you want to preserve what's left of the goodwill you have with the investment world, but act quickly, please.