08.19.08
Posted in Offshore Banking, Offshore Services, Seychelles banking, Seychelles offshore jurisdiction at 10:24 am by Robert Klien
In July, BMI Offshore Bank (BMIO) has announced that its offshore banking operations in Seychelles have been officially launched.
BMI Offshore Bank is a joint venture between Bahrain-based BMI Bank and Seychelles-incorporated Nouvobanq. Managed by BMI Bank, the venture will deal with offshore banking and private banking services and provide access to trust and investment services for corporate and private customers who reside abroad.
To celebrate the launch, a special ceremony was held. The event was attended by Government officials, key businessmen related to the offshore industry, Chief Executive Officer of BMI Bank Andrew Bainbridge, Wholesale Banking Director of BMI Bank Karl Stumke and other bank representatives, media and guests.
Chief Executive Officer of BMI Bank, Andrew Bainbridge, said that the launch of the first offshore bank in the Seychelles is an important move. BMI Bank was established with a vision to form a universal bank with presence in selected emerging markets and this move is the way to achieve it. He also said that BMIO will be supported by the head office in Bahrain in order to run a successful banking operation in Seychelles.
Initially, BMI Offshore Bank will offer deposits and investments on varying terms, transactional banking from current and call accounts, and internet banking facilities. Then, new products including Debit and Credit cards, loan financing, trust business and a range of other investment products will be introduced.
A license to operate was received by BMIO from the Central Bank of Seychelles in March 2008.
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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.Â
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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03.02.08
Posted in Seychelles banking, Seychelles offshore jurisdiction at 6:00 am by Robert Klien
In the middle of February, the Development Bank of Seychelles (DBS), a joint venture between the Government of Seychelles and financial organizations (Agence Française de Development, European Investment Bank, DEG, Nouvobanq) that was created in 1977 and started its operations at the Supreme Court building in February 1978, was celebrating its 30th anniversary with a series of activities.
DBS hosted a 3-day exhibition at its offices along Independence Avenue starting from February 12.
According to Mary de Comarmond, a spokesperson for DBS, the bank hoped to showcase its progress. To do this, it highlighted some of the main projects it has financed.
To mark the anniversary, the Development Bank of Seychelles contributed 2 sponsored articles on some of the bank’s achievements that appeared in the Seychelles Weekend Nation on February 16.
The bank started off by granting 108 loans in 1978. It has grown to the extent that in 2007 alone, it funded more than 270 projects giving priority to viable projects contributing to the improvement of Seychelles’ sustainable economic development.
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09.07.07
Posted in Offshore Services, Seychelles banking, Seychelles offshore jurisdiction at 6:42 pm by Robert Klien
The license to operate as an offshore bank in Ghana has been recently given to Barclays Bank of Ghana.
According to Bank of Ghana’s policy, only reputable and internationally active banks are licensed to operate in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). On August 28, 2007, the Central Bank issued its 1st General Banking Licence to Barclays Bank of Ghana Limited, a fully-owned subsidiary of Barclays Bank PLC. Now, Barclays Bank can operate as an offshore bank.
The General Banking Licence allows Barclays Bank of Ghana Limited to operate the first banking business under the International Banking component of the IFSC.
The IFFSC will have a full range of non-bank financial services, and is a part of a comprehensive financial sector development programme.
It is well-known that offshore banking is often associated with the hidden economy and organized crime related to through money laundering. However, Barclays Bank of Ghana and the Bank of Ghana have assured the residents of the country that they are able to check it.
Offshore banks are usually located in a low-tax jurisdictions, outside the country of residence of the depositor, called tax havens, and therefore have both financial and legal advantages such as strong privacy, low or no taxation, less restrictive legal regulation, protection against local political or financial instability and easy access to deposits.
Having offshore banking is beneficial for the country as it could increase foreign investments into Ghana, create a number of jobs, increase, revenue for government, strengthen the financial sector as well as transfer skills to Ghanaians.
At a workshop on offshore banking organized for the media, Ms. Catherine Addo of Barclays Bank cited Seychelles as an example of good offshore banking. She said that the strict control measures that are used for offshore banking branches in Seychelles and Mauritius would be applied also in Ghana. These measures include the usage of the World Checking System to double check clients’ background.
Head of Banking Supervision of the Bank of Ghana, Mr. Dela Selormey, said that also the Financial Services Authority in London would extend its surveillance into Ghana. He stated that when the Money Laundering Bill is passed into law by parliament in 2007 the measures would be strengthened.
It is good that Seychelles is considered to be a respectable offshore jurisdiction that might serve as a good example for other countries.
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05.27.07
Posted in International relations, Seychelles banking at 11:42 pm by Robert Klien
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation has announced that Seychellois Peter Sinon was appointed as executive director of the East Africa Constituency of the African Development Bank (ADB).
Sinon’s election for 2007-2010 took place during the 2007 Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the African Development Bank Group (African Development Bank and the African Development Fund) which was held in Shanghai, China, on May 16-17, 2007. At the meetings, Seychelles was represented by a delegation led by Patrick Pillay, the Minister for Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation.
Before the appointment, Peter Sinon, High Commissioner of Seychelles to the Republic of South Africa and the Republic of Namibia, had been working as alternate executive director and adviser to the executive director to the ADB Board of Directors, representing the East Africa Constituency. The East Africa Constituency includes Seychelles, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Eritrea and Uganda.
The ADB is a regional multilateral development bank established in 1964 to promote the economic development and social progress of regional member countries in Africa. As Seychelles has high per capita income, it is among the few African countries which can borrow from the African Development Bank.
The Seychelles’ delegation had the privilege to meet in a separate meeting with Daniel Kaberuka, the ADB President, during the annual meetings. The delegation also took the opportunity to meet with such development partners as the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) and the Kuwait Fund.
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05.22.07
Posted in Seychelles banking at 8:33 am by Robert Klien
Barclays Bank has announced that tomorrow, on May 23, 2007, a new retail branch of Barclays Bank (Seychelles) will open at the Providence Industrial Zone.
The branch located in the P&J building complex will work from 8.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. Monday to Friday to offer all the normal branch services such as cashiering transactions, ATM services and loan processing.
As it has been said by the bank’s rpresentative, new branch opening is part of the Barclays Bank’s strategy to expand its retail footprint across the different groups of population in order to bring services closer to customers and the public as such.
Providence Industrial Zone has been chosen because over the years it has seen an increased level of business activity, and the bank believes this trend will continue in future.
The new branch is expected to bring quick benefit to bank’s customers as far as they will have possibility to choose the closest branch and to shift their banking to wherever is convenient for them.
Frank Hoareau, the managing director of Barclays Bank (Seychelles) Ltd., commented on this improvement the following way: “This is indeed an important milestone in our operation here in Seychelles which brings a lot of pride to our staff and our customers. It shows our commitment to them and the country, that Barclays is prepared to continually invest to improve on what we have to offerâ€. He also added that bank’s customers will get excellent service when, where and how they want it. Hoareau has no doubt that new branch of Barclays Bank (Seychelles) will be tremendously beneficial to businesses in the area.
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02.16.07
Posted in Seychelles IBC, Seychelles banking, Seychelles offshore jurisdiction at 3:00 pm by Robert Klien
The SIBA website provides quite a complete library of Seychelles legislative acts regulating offshore financial services as well as a list of Licensed Corporate Services Provioders (CSP). Currently, there are 36 corporate Services Providers listed there, inluding also such offshore professionals known worldwide as Ocra (Seychelles), Fidelity (Seychelles), Mossack Fonseca and others.
Another important resource provided by SIBA website is various application forms and guides needed for undertaking offshore business in the Seychelles. For example, Guide to become a Corporate Services Provider in Seychelles, CSP Application form, Guide to Compliance for CSP, Application Guidelines for Special License Company (CSL), CSL - Application Form as well as various application forms for International Trade Zone business and ship and yacht registration.
For the first acquaintance with Seychelles offshore services, there is a good description about the key offshore services: International Business Companies (IBC), Mutual Funds, Offshore Banking, Offshore Insurance, International Trusts and Ship Registration.
As regards the latest updates on Double Taxation treaties, Budget Speech and latest news for whole offshore jurisdiction – sometimes this information is outdated (for example, currently the latest news are avaialble for the first half of 2006), but anyway, comparing with other Seychelles resources providing offshore business information, SIBA provides far away the most detailed and most up-to-date information about Seychelles offshore financial services.
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02.12.07
Posted in Seychelles CSL, Seychelles IBC, Seychelles banking, Seychelles offshore jurisdiction at 5:51 pm by Robert Klien
When it comes to Seychelles offshore services, the organization number 1 in Seychelles is undoubtedly the Seychelles International Business Authority (SIBA) established in February 1995.
SIBA is an organization corporate with board members who are prominent participants of both government and the private sector.
The Seychelles International Business Authority is a body that both licenses and regulates primary offshore activities. This body represents the Registrar for International Business Companies (IBCs) and trusts and a regulator of International Trade Zone activities. With its dedicated professionals and carefully worked-out systems, the Authority can provide swift name approvals, incorporation and licensing, while spending minimal periods of time on bureaucracy. As a result, certificates of incorporation, for example, may be issued within just one hour. So, SIBA is one of the fastest Registrars all over the world.
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