The government is gearing up to fully meet the requirements of the European Union (EU).

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Peter Turnquest, announced yesterday the Minnis administration’s efforts to reform and  enhance the financial services sector.

One such adjustment calls for  all financial institutions will now be permitted to offer services to both domestic and international clients. 

 Mr. Turnquest said, “this is about leveling the playing field and so there are some local financial institutions who would have been subject to both regulatory fees and business license fees based upon their turn over which the offshore banks would not have been subject to,” he said.

“So this actually makes the local domestic financial service providers more competitive in this industrial sector. 

“And we expect that we will see more persons engaged in domestic financial institutions offering services around the world.

“You know we talk about the opportunities that exist as a result of the regulations being shaped by the international community, this is one of them where we are able to encourage and to stimulate the local financial services provider to provide services internationally at a very competitive rate.

“And to be able to provide an indigenous product that is not subject to as much international concerns as some of the other institutions may have, ” the Minister said. 

This new framework proposes that financial institutions including banks, insurance, trust companies, investment advisers, mutual fund administrators, brokers/dealers and other regulated financial services entities will be exempted from paying a business license fee when renewing or applying for a license, come January 2020. 

Minister Turnquest said over the coming months,  the government will make the necessary legislative adjustments allowing the implementation of the new framework, and they will continue to engage all stakeholders.

“We’ve had international tax advisers giving supporting advice both from the finance side as well as from the legal side,” he said. 

“And we believe that it has resulted in a framework that will satisfy all of the requirements of the legislation that we’ve passed and ultimately meet the test for the OECD, the EU assessments that will be done in the new year.”

The new framework took effect as of January 1, 2019.

Meanwhile the EU is expected to release a new blacklist later this month.

The government has  put a number of  legislative measures in place  to avoid being named.