Legal rein

Government is coming with a raft of new business regulations to combat problems such as money laundering, corruption and the financing of terrorism.But it is also moving to ease legal requirements to get trust and other companies to set up in this offshore business centre.Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite made the disclosures yesterday at Hilton Barbados during an address to members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados (ICAB).“. . . Before year-end, we should have in place the Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (Prevention and Control) Bill, 2010; Transnational Organised Crime (Prevention and Control) Bill, 2010; and the Prevention of Corruption Bill, 2010,” he said.He also reported that this year Government would be taking to the House of Assembly a bill covering international corporate and trust service providers.He indicated that under this piece of legislation Government would be reducing the $2 million capitalisation requirement needed for starting up offshore businesses.“Presently the capitalisation requirement has restricted the trust business to but a few,” he conceded.“Government now has the chance to encourage other players by reducing the capital requirement,” he told the meeting attended by former ministers Reginald Farley and Lynette Eastmond. “We must seize the opportunity.”Brathwaite also said Government was looking to amend the law requiring companies with at least $1 million on their books to be  audited.He said the audit was an additional fee for businesses and there were several complaints about it, including the charge that it was set too low.“There are too many companies subject to audit where the company has no use for the audit because it’s a family-held investment entity, for example, with no third party interest,” he pointed out.Co-operatives will also be affected by the new laws. According to Brathwaite, the Registrar of Co-operatives is pursuing amendments to the Co-operatives Act “to allow information to be shared without having to procure a court order”.A major element in the changing business regulatory framework will be  a Financial Services Commission to oversee and regulate the various financial institutions.According to Brathwaite, Government is “working assiduously” towards the establishment of the umbrella body, which will “make it easier for local and international businesses to thrive in our country”.Brathwaite pointed out that over the years Government had passed laws to remove loopholes and otherwise improve the regulatory framework of the financial services sector, but the time had come for additional changes.