A London meeting with more than 30 high-level figures from the British financial services sector was hailed a success by Deputy Premier Lorna Smith.
The gathering at BVI House last week was also attended by Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley.
Ms. Smith, who is the financial services minister, described the United Kingdom as a “critical market” for the Virgin Islands economy and said that meetings with major insurance firms had been particularly productive.
“This entire territory is experiencing the costs of adapting to climate change, especially in the high cost of insurance premiums,” she said during a Monday press conference with the premier. “We agreed that investability and insurability will be key to attracting significant private investment into the Virgin Islands. I am determined to continue our discussions with these experts to assess how we can best utilise their support.”
Ms. Smith added that the VI delegation also sought to secure greater help for the territory in responding to extreme weather conditions caused by climate change.
“Given that the Virgin Islands is currently unable to access funds emanating from the [United Nations] climate change convention and the Paris Agreement, we know that private-sector climate finance will be an important element in helping the Virgin Islands build resilience and develop adaptation measures to help mitigate the impact of climate change,” the deputy premier said.
Criticism
Asked about ongoing criticism of the VI’s financial services industry from senior Labour Party figures such as Dame Margaret Hodge, who was recently given a seat in the House of Lords, Ms. Smith said part of the visit was aimed at explaining the territory’s perspective.
“We met with some of the most senior and leading newspapers — this was off the record — to explain to them what the BVI was about; how our financial services work,” she said.
Ms. Smith added that discussions with Overseas Territories Minister Stephen Doughty touched on plans to broaden access to the territory’s register of beneficial ownership.
“We spoke with [Mr.] Doughty about where we are at,” she said. “He was satisfied, and we also met with other persons in the private sector who are also friends with the likes of Dame Margaret Hodge.”
Labour government
The deputy premier added that relations with the newly established Labour government are good.
“We feel satisfied that because of the level of transparency, because of what we do as a financial services jurisdiction, that there should not be any difficulty moving forward even though it’s Dame Hodge’s party that is in power,” she said.
Ms. Smith added in a statement that the VI made a good impression in London.
“As a leading finance centre, we continually strengthen our regulatory and legislative frameworks to maintain world-class standards and uphold global expectations,” she said. “The record attendance at the London meeting underscores the growing interest in how we are evolving our products and services to meet industry needs.”