New committee
Cabinet ministers appointed a dozen representatives from sub-sectors of the financial services industry to serve on a new advisory committee charged with improving the industry, officials said. The Financial Services Business Development Committee, approved on Feb. 15, will advise the government on how to maintain and grow the sector, according to a Government Information Services press release. The committee’s membership consists of Renard Estridge, the president of the Association of Registered Agents; Derek Lloyd of the BVI Association of Insurance Managers; Joycelyn Murraine, president of the BVI Bank Association; Vanessa King of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners; Simon Filmer of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators; Johann Henry, a representative of the shipping industry; Kenneth Morgan, an independent industry representative; William Tacon, president of the Association of Restructuring and Insolvency Practitioners; Dawn Smith of the BVI Bar Association; Lorna Smith, a consultant; and Peter Reichenstein, an employee of VP Bank.
Tourism meeting
Premier Dr. Orlando Smith used a meeting of the Tourist Accommodation Properties Association last week to tell the owners of small inns and villas that they should band together and see each other as partners, not competitors. Dr. Smith said the sector, which he said makes up 30 percent of the accommodations in the territory, should do more to share marketing and purchasing resources. He added that the BVI Tourist Board is willing to work with the group in creating off-season sales packages and marketing small properties in the United Kingdom.