The negative focus on select Caribbean islands’ financial services industries by certain foreign journalists is suspect because it is grossly unfair and smells of victimisation. Perhaps the islands’ “developing” status is a kind of economic and social hurdle, and the foreign journalist expects these countries to become “fully developed” before they are deemed suitable to sit offshore finance businesses within their borders.
That is the great hypocrisy at the centre of the whole offshore finance affair. Countries in the Northern Hemisphere are deemed more worthy of operating offshore financial services than poorer jurisdictions to the south. Are offshore finance locations in the north as “put upon” as locations in the south? Of course not! And why is it only now that the matter of offshore services in the Caribbean is being put under the microscope after decades of a robust offshore industry, with finance centres all over the world?
There is an attempt here, by the western press, to tar these islands in the sun as illegitimate. It is Goliath coming after David for no reason other than David is smaller in size and power. David appears vulnerable. He is fair game.
However, these alien investigators suffer from amnesia and gross ignorance. The “investigative journalist” has forgotten that financial activities in so-called offshore havens are driven by the global elite sitting in their own capitals. They should go after their own elites first. Of course, today’s investigative journalists will not, because they know that the consequences for their bottom line will not be beneficial. So they look for the weakest link in the chain. That is the cowardliness in the whole offshore affair.
People in charge
The people who ultimately control offshore finance are the very men and women who drive the political and economic machinery of powerful nations. They also control the financial activities in places such as the City of London, Wall Street, Frankfurt, and even Peking, Moscow and Riyadh. There would be no offshore financial jurisdiction without the collaboration of the super powerful and super wealthy and their allies.
The financial choreography between the wealthy and offshore wealth management is driven from the world’s global financial centres outwards, and towards small countries such as these Lesser Antilles. The offshore finance centre is the outback of global finance. It is effect, not cause.
The offshore financial centres, many sitting in the Caribbean, offer attractions to investors and investment bankers. These include political stability, safety and security, an agreeable climate, laidback freedom, privacy, an educated workforce, distance from a prying and obsessive press, idyllic geography, and a legal and economic infrastructure that accommodates the privacy and personal security needs of the global investor who wants to live in quietness.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to house one’s wealth in an offshore financial centre. There are good reasons for this, and the experts in the business can offer a laundry list.
‘They will fail’
In any event, it is very interesting that the global press are extremely aggressive, even bullying, when visiting these small paradise islands in search of the story that brings fame and glory. These “investigative writers” hope their questionable efforts will destroy the offshore financial industry once and for all. But they will fail.
Why? For one, these foreign journalists fail to acknowledge that their own countries possess a much greater financial opaqueness which takes place in the esoteric and arcane environments of the bank’s financial boardroom, trading floor, and even the billionaire’s chateau in the European countryside.
The reason for that amnesia is simple. The western press has become a crucible of hypocrisy. The western press is very much a part of the western social, economic, and political establishment. It has also become a bastion of liberalism and left-wing politics. Political correctness has already destroyed Europe’s security. It must not be allowed to creep into countries with their own unique cultures and value systems.
In fact, the ideas and opinions of modern western journalists are simple reflections of the opinions and interests of the wealthy owners and shareholders of newspapers and multimedia. The super elites who run western media are a new billionaire class of internet entrepreneurs, who have every interest in maintaining the present global financial status quo.
Cowardly press
The western media is no longer the double-edged sword it once appeared to be, bringing down a United States president and going after insider dealing on Wall Street with a chivalry and toughness that brought terror to unscrupulous traders and investment bankers. That aggressive integrity is no longer part of its culture. The western press has become acquiescent and toothless despite the billions it possesses in assets.
The global press dare not challenge the owners of their newspapers and media companies with fearless journalism. Many of the owners of the western multimedia complex have interests in offshore finance. That is the paradox at play. These journalists understand that the men and women who own and control the news machinery in their home countries are their paymasters. One slip of the pen, or any nuance against specific business interests, and they would be fired. The classic penetrating and cutting newsman no longer exists. Why? That is the million-dollar question.
Bully tactics
Instead the foreign journalist lacking in real courage or pedigree practices what all bullies excel at: He looks for the weak link in the global financial chain. And then he proceeds to adopt criminal behaviour, such as digital hacking, and empty threats, to steal financial information and upset the proverbial apple cart.
The lesson is simple for these islands. Not everyone is happy with the success of the Virgin Islands offshore finance industry. So the envious and hateful use the excuse of investigative journalism to poke a long nose into the affairs of various financial companies in the territory. There is consequently a need for even great discretion by offshore jurisdictions, and greater ruthlessness in adopting new protocols and methods of protecting their interests from those who wish to see the industry’s demise.
There is also a need to weigh every matter that may have consequences for the welfare of the offshore industry wisely.
Marine industry
Most importantly, the VI must continue building its tourism and maritime industries through investment in the requisite infrastructure: land, sea and air.
The need to train natives in maritime skills and related sciences should remain a top priority for all VI leaders. The maritime industry promises to be a huge employer of youth labour in the future. It is also an opportunity for Virgin Islanders, citizens and residents to place valuable scientific and technological skills into incubation that will be greatly rewarding in the coming decades. Effective management of the maritime and tourism industries should create hundreds of new careers and jobs in the coming years.
The days when Virgin Islanders and other residents leave school to work in financial services at huge salaries may be coming to an end as offshore finance becomes more globally competitive. The maritime industry will not offer those huge salaries. What it will offer are three things most people in the modern world would regard as highly valuable: a useful and marketable skill, a reasonably secure career, and a sustainable income.
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