12.05.11
Posted in Business and Economy, Financial Services, Offshore Banking, Seychelles banking at 4:10 pm by Robert Klien
At the 17th anniversary lecture of the Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS), Seychelles has been praised as having the potential to become the financial technology hub for African countries.
The event’s guest speaker, Arun Jain, chairman and chief executive of Polaris Financial Technology Ltd., a leading global financial technology company, said: “Being an archipelago in the African continent with a small population, Seychelles has the natural advantage for creating a niche for itself in the financial technology space. It has the potential to become the Financial Technology Hub for African countries and extend its expertise to neighbouring countries and position itself as a global financial technology stronghold. The late adoption of automation will be a boon for Seychelles since they will get the most advanced technology unlike some developed countries which still run on legacy systems.”
Other guests at the event were Seychelles’ President James Michel, the Governor of CBS Pierre Laporte, and the chairman of the Seychelles Bankers Association Michael Benstrong, who is also the managing director of the Seychelles Savings Bank.
Mr Jain addressed ministers, foreign dignitaries, bureaucrats, bankers, businessmen and academicians speaking on the theme of “Technological Innovations Driving Financial Services”.
He stressed the role of
- Smarter Identity – Single Identity for every citizen which could be used for
(a) banking transactions,
(b) social commerce transactions,
(c) government to citizen transactions;
- Smarter Infrastructure – Shared Financial Technology Infrastructure where all banks invest as shareholders and pay-per-use to drive efficiency.
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12.01.11
Posted in Business and Economy, Financial Services, Foreign investments, International relations, SIBA at 3:38 pm by Robert Klien
A Seychelles’ delegation has attended a 2-day conference. The event was held in Prague on November 10-11, 2011.
The event was organized by the SIC Corporation based in the Czech Republic with the support of the Seychelles Investment Board (SIB). The conference targeted mainly Russian investors interested in investing.
The delegation was led by Investment, Natural Resources and Industry Minister Peter Sinon. Also, there were members of the delegation from the SIB, the Central Bank of Seychelles, the Seychelles International Business Authority (SIBA), and several domestic private financial services sector companies.
This conference aimed to tell investors about various emerging opportunities and possibilities for investment in Seychelles. Also, the event was used as an occasion to formally nominate the partners of SIC Corporation as candidates for the Trade and Investment Representatives’ of Seychelles in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent (CIS) countries.
In his opening speech, Sinon emphasized that Seychelles is a well-positioned jurisdiction and that there is an increase in trade and investment potentials between Africa and the growing emerging markets of the Far East. He stressed that the jurisdiction is a politically stable, open, welcoming, multi-cultural and idyllic destination in the middle of the Indian Ocean that is a potential powerful platform for offering financial solutions and related services.
Seychelles has maintained a good relationship with Russia and the CIS countries. Investment from this part of the world has significantly contributed to the figures for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Seychelles.
It should be noted that, in accordance with the data revealed by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Russian Federation is the largest outward investing emerging economy surpassed only by Hong Kong. Russia stands ahead of Brazil, China and India. This is the motivation for trying to get to know specific and interested investors in what Seychelles has to offer.
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03.15.11
Posted in Business and Economy, Financial Services, SIBA at 1:24 pm by Robert Klien
This year, the financial system of the Seychelles, which currently is bank-based, is to get a boost as a stock exchange will be opened in the jurisdiction.
Chief executive officer of the Seychelles International Business Authority (SIBA), Steve Fanny, said that SIBA is responsible for setting up the stock exchange and the Seychelles Stock Exchange will start operating in 2011.
Many Seychelles’ companies as well as big hotels will qualify to be listed on the Exchange.
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08.13.10
Posted in Financial Services, International Organisations, International relations, Seychelles government at 2:51 pm by Robert Klien
The Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) was signed between the Seychelles and the Netherlands. This is the first agreement of this kind for the Seychelles, but not the last one, the Seychelles government following its policy to develop Seychelles international business and financial services sector.
The Seychelles and the Netherlands have agreed to incorporate the OECD standard for such agreements into their TIEA. This will encourage tax authorities of both parties to exchange taxpayer information for specific purposes, including countering tax evasion and money laundering. Also, according to the agreement , neither tax authority can refuse to provide information solely because it does not require the information for domestic purposes, or because it is held by a bank or similar institution.
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04.26.10
Posted in Financial Services, Offshore Banking, Seychelles banking at 3:17 pm by Robert Klien
A number of incidents have taken place where the owners of bank cards have lost their money after requesting its transfer over the phone. That is why the Seychelles Bankers’ Association warned customers to be careful regarding this.
Mohinder Singh Phogat, The chairman of the Seychelles Bankers’ Association, said that there are types of cards the owners of which can ask through e-mail or telephone for transferring money but, in the absence of the card, they give their card and pin numbers over the phone.
There have been cases when fraudsters have stolen cards and requested such transactions in order to contact recipients of the money asking them to transfer the money elsewhere. In this process the money gets lost. Phogat said that experienced operators like major hotels are familiar with the checks necessary to avoid such fraud while smaller establishments are sometimes likely to become victims of the fraud.
The Seychelles Bankers’ Association is urging bank customers to adhere to guidelines that are given by the banks with a view to avoid being defrauded in scams.
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04.20.09
Posted in Financial Services, SIBA, Seychelles offshore jurisdiction at 7:16 pm by Robert Klien
Seychelles has been listed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) among 40 countries on its “white list”. The white list includes such countries as the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada, Sweden, France, Germany and New Zealand. Accordingly, Seychelles has been listed among many developed countries
Steve Fanny, chief executive of the Seychelles International Business Authority, said that this fact means that Seychelles is not on the OECD’s black or grey list. Fanny said that Seychelles used to have substantially imposed internationally agreed tax standards in a transparent manner and that this offshore jurisdiction has made every effort to know its customers in order to avoid the risk of providing havens for criminals.
It is worth noting that since April 2 the international media have been reporting on the disappointment of countries placed on the OECD’s grey or black list despite years of striving to get into the white list.
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08.01.08
Posted in Financial Services, Mutual Funds, Offshore Services, Seychelles legislation at 8:59 pm by Robert Klien
The Central Bank of Seychelles has recently announced that Seychelles’ Mutual Fund Act has been updated. To build on the success of the financial services industry, Mutual Fund Act has been redrafted in order to plug gaps in the previous mutual funds legislation as well as to allow local financial service providers to tap into the multi-trillion dollar offshore mutual funds industry.
The redraft has been undertaken with a view to enable companies working in the financial services sector to offer services to mutual funds investors, which combine the assets of many investors in order to create larger funds for investment in stock exchanges and money markets as well as other investment opportunities.
The original legislation came into force in 1997. This was the beginning of mutual funds development.
The global mutual funds industry was estimated to be worth USD 26.2 trillion by the end of 2007. The industry has surpassed any other offshore business structure. It is growing at an average of 1 trillion USD per year.
It is also worth noting that the newly drafted legislation is aimed at bolstering banking and legal services for mutual fund operations.
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06.15.08
Posted in Business and Economy, Financial Services, Seychelles banking at 6:19 pm by Robert Klien
In order to increase investment flexibility, the Central Bank of Seychelles has announced the introduction of a new service.
The new service allows to sell and buy government-issued bonds. Those who hold government bonds will now be able to sell these bonds to the Central Bank of Seychelles before the bonds reach their maturity. This will allow them to access funds that would have been tied up otherwise. Then, the bonds bought by the Central Bank of Seychelles will be sold to people.
According to Central Bank governor Francis Chang Leng, before this new initiative has been launched people holding bonds faced the difficult prospect of trying to find a buyer if they wished to sell the bonds. This difficulty even increased if they wanted to sell large amounts of bonds. “The introduction of the Central Bank secondary market for bonds offers a fast, efficient and guaranteed market for people wishing to sell bonds and an easy access point for people who wish to use an investment in government bonds as an alternative to saving their money in the bank.â€
Bond holders who intend to use the new service will have to visit the Central Bank of Seychelles, where they will be able to cash either in the full value of their bonds or a percentage of them.
The Central Bank will charge an administrative fee of 0.25% on the face value of the bonds in order to finance the new service.
As a secondary market will be introduced, bond holders will be allowed to exchange their bonds for currency, which will increase their financial liquidity. Nevertheless, the overall level of liquidity will not change because the bonds will stay in circulation.
Central Bank governor Francis Chang Leng hopes that the introduction of the secondary market for bonds will increase people’s familiarity with trading in bonds and other investments, and with “providing an additional interest-earning opportunity for savers looking for the best return on their moneyâ€.
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05.31.08
Posted in Financial Services, Offshore Services, Seychelles banking, Seychelles offshore jurisdiction at 2:09 pm by Robert Klien
According to the press release published on May 20, 2008, Bahrain-based BMI Bank appointed Frank Hoareau as the Managing Director of BMI Offshore Bank Limited, its new Offshore banking business in Seychelles.
Andrew Bainbridge, Chief Executive Officer of BMI, welcomed Frank Hoareau and noted that he brings extensive experience and knowledge of the offshore industry and banking. Bainbridge also said that the Bank is confident it will build a thriving business and capitalize on the many exciting opportunities in the Seychelles market as Seychelles is an attractive location for this venture that is supported by legal and regulatory framework and continuing economic progress.
It should be noted that Frank Hoareau is well-known in Seychelles financial circles and he is familiar with the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, where he held a senior position before joining Barclays offshore.
In March 2008, BMI received its offshore banking license and is planning to open for business in the 3rd quarter of 2008.
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04.18.08
Posted in Double Taxation Agreements, Financial Services, Offshore Services, Seychelles IBC, Seychelles banking, Seychelles companies, Seychelles offshore jurisdiction at 3:01 pm by Robert Klien
Publishing Seychelles Strategy for 2017 has been announced previously.
It has also been already told that the mission stated in the above-mentioned document was doubling the Seychelles GDP by 2017, which is to be achieved by focusing on developing the offshore financial services industry, fisheries and tourism expansion programmes, and the growth of other economic sectors.
However, it is worth covering another important aspect of Seychelles Strategy 2017. The strategy emphasizes the importance of the active promotion of the menu of offshore services on offer including IBC registration, special licence companies, mutual funds, and insurance captives. On of the strategic objectives regarding this is promoting corporate culture and developing the financial sector by means of setting up a stock exchange that will serve as an important mechanism to enhance Seychellois stakeholding in fisheries and tourism.
Innovation in business practice is to be encouraged and customer service delivery standards are to be raised to strengthen the industry.
As Seychelles is going to develop as a financial jurisdiction, its potential of developing a reputable offshore banking sector will be exploited.
According to Seychelles Strategy 2017, the impetus to offshore banking development could be the country’s double taxation avoidance (DTA) agreements signed with 10 countries. Through Seychelles-incorporated offshore companies, international investors will be encouraged to invest in Seychelles’ DTA partners, and the jurisdiction is to benefit from banking services on these transactions. Of course, where appropriate, local legislation should be updated.
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