When Elise Donovan wanted to make her point about what she called “sensationalist” reporting stemming from a purported data leak affecting the territory’s financial services industry, she asked a group of Virgin Islands reporters to think about their bank account balances.
“I’m sure you wouldn’t want that information, which is legal — it’s above board and in compliance with the laws of the British Virgin Islands or wherever you have your various accounts — I’m sure you wouldn’t want that information plastered all over the media for everyone to see,” said Ms. Donovan, who heads government’s efforts to market the financial services industry.
Speaking at a meeting of journalists and talk show hosts, the executive director of the International Finance Centre said her week had been “very, very hectic.” She added that she had fielded many calls from international media outlets, which government officials believe have tarnished the territory’s image as a “well-regulated” jurisdiction.
Ms. Donovan was referring to a series of articles spearheaded by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists that began appearing in the international media on April 4. The series, “Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze,” reportedly relied on a leak of some 2.5 million documents, many of which came from two trust companies with ties to the VI: Commonwealth Trust Ltd. and Portcullis TrustNet.
“We think this is a deplorable use of information obtained through illicit means,” Ms. Donovan said. “More positively, there is absolutely no evidence, no evidence that there is a systematic contagious breach, and we have been overwhelmed by the amount of support we have received from the private sector.”
See the April 18, 2013 edition for full coverage.
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