STAR Businessweek - 28 April 2018 by STAR Publishing

THE STAR BUSINESSWEEK APRIL 28, 2018

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1 YEAR AND COUNTING:

BREXIT AND THE CARIBBEAN

Measured May has succumbed to a tawdry migrant pose

The “jobsworth” has a special place in British infamy. There is no American or Australian pejorative for a graceless bureaucrat who holds the rule book dearer than common sense.

THE UNITED KINGDOM IS DUE TO LEAVE THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU) ON MARCH 29, 2019. PRIOR TO THE BREXIT VOTE, PRO-BREXIT CAMPAIGNERS SAID LEAVING THE EU WOULD START A GREAT NEW ERA FOR THE UK; ONE WHERE BRITONS ENJOY GREATER FREEDOM, STRONGER TRADE AND HIGHER STANDING IN THE WORLD.

Page 3

BY ED KENNEDY, STAR BUSINESSWEEK CORRESPONDENT

Amber Rudd promises easier route to citizenship for Windrush migrants Amber Rudd on Monday launched a concerted government effort to silence the furore over the treatment of the “Windrush generation” of migrants from the Caribbean by launching a compensation scheme and a simpler route to UK citizenship for them. Page 7

Continued on page 4

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PROMOTING FINANCIAL INCLUSION WITH FINTECH

How leveraging the latest in financial technology can help reach the region’s unbanked BY CATHERINE MORRIS, STAR BUSINESSWEEK CORRESPONDENT

The STAR Businessweek BY CHRISTIAN WAYNE – EDITOR AT LARGE

Typically when the Caribbean makes international news headlines it’s for something less than desirable . . . like being ravaged by a summertime natural disaster or getting mixed up in yet another embarrassingly public and often unsavoury financial entanglement with a globetrotting billionaire playboy like a Walid Juffali or a Peter Nygard . . . but for the past two weeks we’ve been dominating headlines—British ones, if you must know— regarding an issue the region, as a whole, hasn’t dealt with for quite some time—immigration. Specifically, Britain immigration. Last week at the Commonwealth meetings in London, Theresa May coughed up a politically-unavoidable stillborn apology for her government’s recent “harsh treatment” of the Windrush generation, referring to undocumented Caribbean immigrants who travelled to the UK between the 1940s and 1960s. In an effort to quell the fallout from May’s immigration policies, otherwise known as “hostile environment”, home secretary Amber Rudd attempted to pacify the situation by offering affected Windrushers an “easy path to citizenship . . . with compensation” but not before she—you guessed it—blamed the previous government for this government’s new immigration policies. No cigar. The fallout continues. Learn more in this week’s reporting by the Financial Times. Also in this edition, STAR Businessweek is looking at financial inclusion and its link to economic performance and growth in “Promoting Financial Inclusion with FinTech” here on page 2. All this and more in this week’s edition of the STAR Businessweek.

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“30% of Saint Lucians do not have a bank or credit union account.” – Dr Edwin St Catherine, Director, Central Statistical Office

Throughout the Caribbean region, island states are recording sluggish economic growth and rising poverty and inequality. One of the major weapons in addressing these two key problems is financial inclusion. A region where all citizens are offered financial aid, support and services is a region that can anticipate long-term growth, a higher standard of living and reduced hardship. Yet studies show that almost half of the Caribbean’s adult citizens are unbanked, operating in a cash-based economy that leaves them exposed to crime, corruption and destitution. Reaching these informal spenders and savers means rethinking the current banking model, leveraging technology to provide more efficient and more customised services, at a lower cost to the consumer.

UNBANKED AND UNDERSERVED

In 2014, only 51 per cent of all adults in Latin America and the Caribbean had a bank account according to The World Bank’s Global Findex Index. While this figure may have climbed slightly in the intervening years, there is still a sizeable portion of the region’s population relying on an inadequate and vulnerable informal system of savings and loans. And those who do have accounts are not taking advantage of the services available to them. Just 2 per cent of account holders in the region have mobile money accounts, only 10 per cent make regular online payments and around 75 per cent are not formally saving. The majority of people who have utility bills to pay, such as water and electricity, are handing over cash, and only 60 per cent of workers receive their pay cheques directly into their account. Few in the Caribbean are saving formally by entrusting their funds to a financial institution. This has worrying implications as most have no emergency nest egg if the worst should happen. Those seeking loans generally turn to friends and family. This

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is especially true for small business owners as SMEs are frequently seen as high-risk by financial institutions and therefore not a good investment. Start-ups and entrepreneurs are often forced to scrape together ad hoc funding from a variety of sources.

PAY-OFF

Bringing these potential customers onboard represents a huge pay-off for banks. The World Bank Group estimates that increased banking penetration in personal banking in Latin America and the Caribbean is a US$34bn opportunity for would-be providers, while micro and small banking business could be worth as much as US$81bn. But transforming the unbanked into the banked means understanding who these potential customers are, and what they want. There are many reasons why adults in the Caribbean choose not to open bank accounts. These range from not having enough funds for an initial deposit to relying on another family member’s account. Some lack the necessary documentation, others don’t want to, or can’t, pay the fees of opening and maintaining an account. And then there are those who distrust financial institutions, or simply can’t get to the bank’s physical location. FinTech can help banks overcome these issues by providing services that are accessible, convenient, secure, efficient and user-friendly. Mobile payment applications, the most common form of FinTech innovation, allow clients to access their accounts from their personal devices and make payments in real time—without having to queue up at their branch. Continued on page 5

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© The Financial Times Limited [2018]. All Rights Reserved. Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in anyway. Star Publishing Company is solely responsible for providing this translated content and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation

MEASURED MAY HAS SUCCUMBED TO A TAWDRY MIGRANT POSE A rightwing, pro-Brexit politician could adopt a sensible immigration policy BY FT CORRESPONDENT

The “jobsworth” has a special place in British infamy. There is no American or Australian pejorative for a graceless bureaucrat who holds the rule book dearer than common sense. Suburban and shinysuited, the jobsworth stirs class prejudices against the clerical bourgeoisie from above and below. Cultural context might explain why Amber Rudd, the UK home secretary, felt she could pin the mistreatment of postwar Caribbean migrants on a Home Office that “loses sight of the individual”. As part of the “hostile environment” for illegal migration, children of the Windrush, who are legal but sometimes lack paperwork, have been hounded to the point of deportation. But this is not a case of bureaucracy run amok. This is government policy working as intended: the systematic inconveniencing of migrants (as well as their employers and public-service providers) until they give up, leave and reduce annual net migration to the government’s desired range of tens of thousands. If the policy has suddenly caused a political nuisance for Theresa May, the prime minister, it is only because the topical victims command the sympathies of a nation they helped to rebuild. What a strange hill to die on that numerical target has become. “Tens of thousands” was something David Cameron blurted out when pressed on immigration before he became prime minister in 2010. Against advice, his stab in the dark became an official target, and Mrs May, then his home secretary, strove to meet it with a zeal that brooked no resistance from business, cabinet colleagues or practical reality. This is what happens when someone who does

Caribbean men arrive in Britain on the Empire Windrush in 1948. Some of their children have been hounded to the point of deportation.

not treat his work with sufficient seriousness teams up with someone who treats hers with rather too much. The question is not whether, but how, to replace a target that has failed to ease public anger about migration. Even on the Tory right, there is interest in reform that dwells on the type, not the quantity, of newcomers, and does not count an international student as it counts an unskilled worker’s extended family. So why does Mrs May resist? Remote diagnosis of human motivation is always hard, but what seems to unite Mrs May and Ms Rudd is insecurity about their rightwing credentials. Both broke through as modern-minded Tories. Both voted to remain in the EU. To stay at or near the summit of their party, both talk up their toughness. As well as the “hostile environment” that she promised, Mrs May once pledged to “deport first and hear appeals later”. Her Home Office trundled a poster against illegal immigrants

The question is not whether, but how, to replace a target that has failed to ease public anger about migration.

around on the back of a van (“106 arrests last week in your area”), to the distaste of even the UK Independence party. In the months after the EU referendum in June 2016, when another politician (including some of those who had campaigned to Leave) might have taken the sting out of the jingoist atmosphere, Mrs May tub-thumped with the best of them. Why does such a quiet and measured woman keep succumbing to this tawdriness? The worst interpretation — that she means it — is implausible. After all, she softens in the face of criticism. The vans were retired. The speech against “citizens of nowhere” was explained away as a narrow jibe at the Davos classes. The Windrush cases are offered redress. If her convictions are nativist, she does not have the courage of them. Which is why I sense over-compensation, not ideology, at work. The pattern of her behaviour is that of someone eager to appease a body of opinion she halfunderstands. Ms Rudd, who once proposed that companies declare their number of foreign workers, does it too. Again, those who winced at her crudity were often some way to her right. Their conservatism did not need proving. If only there were a way of making this point without defrosting the oldest of political saws. But US president Richard Nixon’s visit to “Red” China in 1972 remains the case study. Past service to the conservative cause can excuse a gesture in the opposite direction. It might take a rightwing, pro-Brexit politician to adopt a sensible immigration policy. Laxity on this subject will doom a party. Voters are entitled to have their concerns about migration met. But stridency has its own political cost. Consider the Tories’ probable rout in May’s local elections. Their remaining enclaves in London and Manchester could fall. This is not just because cities host immigrants and their descendants. There are also Britons of centuries standing who do not care for the fouling of the atmosphere in recent years. Having seen Mr Cameron as one of them, urban Britain is again locking out the Tories. Call it a hostile environment.

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1 YEAR AND COUNTING:

BREXIT AND THE CARIBBEAN Continued from page 1

This scenario is now facing far greater scrutiny than ever before, and has a number of serious implications for the Caribbean. With less than a year to go, every day sees the stakes get higher.

HISTORY CANNOT BE REVISITED

However you look at it, the world has changed dramatically since 1973 when London first joined the EU Single Market (EUSM). The world’s three biggest economies (USA, China and Japan) are outside the EU. And the EU, when measured collectively is in this top 4. And this is a problem for the UK, trailing these economies as the 5th largest with India (6th) and Brazil (8th) expected to overtake it in future. Even among the bigger global economies in which Britain holds historical ties, restoring old trade ties with India, Canada and Australia will be hard. Each now looks to an economic future in Asia over Europe, and has for a long time. This doesn’t suggest it’s impossible for Britain to carve a new identity post-Brexit; just that it must truly be a new identity. That will take time‚ and it’s time the Caribbean doesn’t have. Especially for the people in nations like Barbados, Dominica, Grenada and our own Saint Lucia.

THE CARIBBEAN AND BREXIT

Recent weeks have seen the pain of the Windrush scandal borne out in Britain, the Caribbean and around the world. And just as Windrush detailed heart-wrenching stories about the unequal treatment of members of the Caribbean family in the UK, the Caribbean as a whole now faces a period of anguish as Brexit negotiations stumble. And it centres on immigration. London wants to retain favourable trade access to the European Union Single Market. But it also wants to hold immigration powers. This isn’t just a stumbling block for negotiations but speaks to a bigger issue. The UK will seek a new brand in 2019 but Brexit

The United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on March 29, 2019

has saddled it with baggage. Around one third of Britons voted to leave‚ and to give London greater power of immigration and border security. There is nothing wrong by default in wanting to enhance your nation’s immigration controls and border security but, as the great majority of these voters came from areas of the UK with very low immigrant populations‚ it evidences a difficult reality. Many of those wanting to decrease immigration actually have little first-hand experience with immigrants. And that adds credence to the claim by a team of international researchers that a significant part of the Brexit vote had a xenophobic

undercurrent. Rather than returning Britain to the centre stage, Britain looking inwards and decreasing immigrants risks its economic growth. Britain is a global nation, and while Brexit may alter the fabric of that, it will remain one. While the 14 British Overseas Territories (BOT) will now go down a separate path to the sovereign nations that seek a new relationship with Britain post-Brexit, BOTs in our region, like Montserrat, now face the prospect of losing much-needed EU funding as a result of Brexit.

GETTING A DEAL DONE

Ultimately, what a post-Brexit Britain decides

for itself is a matter for the British people. But the close ties many Caribbean nations have to the UK mean our region will suffer if in 2019 Britain is focused chiefly on quelling political upheaval at home, instead of new trade abroad. Put simply, if a hard Brexit occurs, the Caribbean could be overlooked for a long time as Britain prioritises a trade deal with the EU and the US over smaller nations. It’s a confronting reality that all current trade deals held with Britain by former British colonies are now with Europe, as a result of London joining in 1973, and the EU subsuming Britain. On March 30, 2019 regional nations who presently hold trade deals with the UK will

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see them continue in place with the EU, and favourable trade with the UK will need a new deal. Even if a hard Brexit occurs, Britain would find a way to secure reasonable growth in future. Even if that ultimately is done by one day rejoining the EU. Smaller economies can hold many advantages, being able to pivot and change course with agility to seize on new opportunities—something increasingly desirable in the disruption era. But the flexibility of a smaller economy also makes it more vulnerable to economic storms, where catastrophic events can tear its anchor. Brexit threatens to deliver such a storm, and while regional nations do have options here, none are particular palatable. Britain remains a highly desired market for trade, so simply making a break from London is not an option. Neither is quickly replacing elsewhere the trade presently had with London. And simply ‘waiting it out’ until the UK sees a normalisation could take decades. This last option is right now our region’s greatest risk, as once a deal is done with the EU and the US, Britain will be prioritising trade with larger countries first. It’s a question of numbers for the UK: right now 50 per cent of its trade is with the EU, and just 9 per cent with Commonwealth countries.. The risk regional nations will go ‘to the back of the queue’ is offset by the potential for quicker and simpler trade deals. And it’s here that Caribbean governments can make the greatest inroads, and indeed will need to. After all, a free trade deal negotiated between economic giants like the US and China must assess pros and cons in countless economic sectors. As the Caribbean has its greatest profitability in the tourism and finance industries, local nations can present to Britain proposed trade deals that would be simpler, and seek to resume our current trading arrangements. The ultimate issue here is whether the UK can resolves issues it faces domestically, and in its negotiations with the EU, in a timely manner. Everything else in 2019 for Britain flows from this.

SO WILL THERE BE A RESOLUTION WITH THE EU?

At time of writing it appears the upheaval is set to continue given the issues at hand. Especially because while many Britons don’t wish to leave the EU, research suggests the majority agree if Brexit does occur it should result in Britain remaining in the EUSM but wielding control in

Put simply, if a hard Brexit occurs, the Caribbean could be overlooked for a long time as Britain prioritises a trade deal with the the EU and the US over smaller nations. It’s a confronting reality that all current trade deals held with Britain by former British colonies are now with Europe

London over immigration. And this is just not possible given the EU’s present attitude. Given that the EU has indicated it won’t accept a trade deal with the UK that doesn’t allow the free movement of goods and people, Britons will be unable to have their cake and eat it. Either Britain loses access to the EUSM and controls immigration, or retains access to the EUSM but will be prohibited from setting its own immigration policy exclusively in London.

WILL BREXIT ACTUALLY HAPPEN?

British prime minister Theresa May has indicated multiple times ‘Brexit means Brexit’: that Britain will leave the EU no matter what. But what exactly Brexit will mean becomes more and more uncertain as negotiations fail to progress. Especially given that many tinderbox issues remain: from the Irish Border, to Gibraltar, to even the prospects of another Scottish independence vote. Significant turbulence in any one of these could derail Brexit, and many scenarios remain possible, including holding a second referendum on the Brexit vote or even seeing the Brexit process shut down by parliamentary manoeuvring or a legal challenge. Right now any progress is desirable, as negotiations lag but March 2019 is fast approaching.

Continued from page 2

Saint Lucia is set to roll out a new US$4m high-speed broadband network this year

As services like these proliferate, the traditional fees associated with banking are being driven down. The level of market competition is forcing banks to refine their strategy and offer more for less.

CATCHING UP

Financial institutions in the Caribbean may be behind the curve when it comes to FinTech, but they’re catching up quickly. In March The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) launched the IFC DigiLab—a new project which aims to educate banks on market trends and how adopting new technologies will not only bring in more customers but also improve their bottom line. The Lab’s first initiative will focus on FinTech, with an emphasis on cloud computing, analytics, and mobile technology, and will be delivered in partnership with global consulting firm Accenture. Participating bankers will get the chance to meet with industry leaders, identify opportunities, attend workshops and visit innovation labs.

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“The goal of the IFC DigiLab Finance programme is to offer an innovative, creative and marketdriven capacity building project that ultimately helps financial institutions to enhance their digital value proposition and create sizeable commercial opportunities at a lower cost to underbanked citizens in ways previously hard to imagine,” says Paulo de Bolle, IFC Global Industry Director for the Global Financial Institutions Group. Widespread adoption of FinTech in the region doesn’t just mean educating banks. It also requires partnership between private tech companies and forward-looking financial institutions. Seeing the potential of the unbanked market, many private firms are targeting the region. In 2016 UK-based Caricoin introduced its all-in-one mobile bitcoin wallet which allows users to send money, shop online and top-up their mobile with the crypocurrency. Similarly, Barbados-based FinTech firm Bitt Inc recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the

Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) to develop blockchain technology in ECCB member countries. This forms part of the Bank’s 2017-2021 Strategic Plan, one of the core aims of which is to increase financial inclusion through greater use of FinTech.

FINANCIALLY VIABLE

In Norway every citizen has a bank account, Canada and the UK have a banked population of 99.1% and 98.9% respectively. In the developed world, it’s easy to take having a bank account for granted but almost half of the Caribbean goes without this kind of financial support. Bringing new customers into the formal economy will take a collaborative effort between regulators and market players, but the foundations are there and the opportunities exist. The region already has the necessary infrastructure, particularly in Saint Lucia which is set to roll out a new US$4m high-speed broadband network in the next few months. The region has a high uptake of smartphone technology, and telecommunications industry group GSMA estimates that there will be almost 150 million new mobile internet subscribers in Latin America and the Caribbean by 2020. This expanding mobile ecosystem is good business for banks, forcing them to adapt, innovate and help elevate those who have been financially marginalised.

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CORPORATE

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A SEA OF PLASTIC

Sandals Foundation Takes on Plastic Pollution with Reusable Water Bottles With every passing year, the detrimental effects of plastic waste on our environment become even more glaring. With roughly 300 million tons of plastic being produced globally each year, the Sandals Foundation has intensified its efforts to reduce plastic pollution in the Caribbean, this time targeting school children. In observance of World Earth Day the Sandals Foundation has started the distribution of 5,000 reusable water bottles in schools across the Caribbean to reduce the use of disposable plastic bottles among school children. Executive Director of the Sandals Foundation, Heidi Clarke, said the initiative is part of the larger focus of the foundation to engage and educate adults and children on the threats their activities and habits pose to the environment. “What we are doing is more than just handing out brightly coloured water bottles to children. It is about the education of the children to bring about a change in perspective and habits. If we can get our children to understand the dangers of plastic pollution, how their actions contribute to that and get them to view their habits differently, we would have made some progress in the fight against plastic pollution,” Clarke said.

The Sandals Foundation funds projects in three core areas: education, community and the environment

HANDS

Environmental Officer at the Sandals Foundation, Jonathan Hernould, said that management of plastic waste is a global issue, making plastic pollution one of the leading environmental issues in the Caribbean. “A large cross-section of our Caribbean population depend on our seas for their livelihoods, and with the harm that plastic pollution causes to our oceans and marine wildlife, that livelihood is under threat,” Hernould warned. “Improper disposal of plastics is dangerous to all. Animals are trapped by plastic debris or eat it and become sick. Microscopic plastic particles are absorbed by fish that humans eat. It is important that the students know this so that they not only change their habits, but influence their households as well,” he explained. In addition to providing students with reusable bottles to replace single -use bottles, Hernould confirmed that a team from Sandals Resorts in Saint Lucia visited the Vide Bouteille Infant and Primary Schools to work with, and educate, students on the dangers of plastic pollution to tourism, our health and the environment. Single-use plastics, or disposable plastics, are used only once before they are thrown away or recycled. These include plastic bags, straws, coffee stirrers, soda and water bottles and most food packaging. In observance of Earth Day last year, the Sandals Foundation delivered 5,000 reusable tote bags to supermarkets across the region as part of the mission to educate the public about reducing the need for single-use plastics.

The Saint Lucia Government Gazette Company Registration Name: Carimex (Caribbean Import Export) Ltd.

Name: RSVP Marketing Ltd.

Description: Retail and wholesale,

Description: Marketing consultant

trade and distribution Directors: Arnaud Jean Geoffroy Augier De Moussac; Decosta Pierre; Hileah Emmanuel Pierre

Directors: Shernell Lionel Date Incorporated: 12-Apr-18 Chamber: SEDU, Saint Lucia

Date Incorporated: 3-Apr-18 Chamber: Floissac Flemming & Associates, Saint Lucia

Name: Entertainment Sound Productions Ltd. Description: Sound recording studio

Name: Jabez Inc.

Directors: Earl Lyttleton Valmont

Description: Construction/Development

Date Incorporated: 13-Apr-18

Directors: Walt Rigobert

Chamber: Shawn Innocent Chambers, Saint Lucia

Date Incorporated: 6-Apr-18 Chamber: Donna Jacobie Chambers, Saint Lucia

Name: Health 2000 Plus Freezone Ltd. Description: ( a ) Medical supplies and

Name: Zenith Trading Ltd.

pharmaceuticals ( b ) General merchandise

Description: Imports/Exports

Directors: Marcia Dupre

Directors: Lalitkumar Khushalani; Ravi Shyamlal Devidasani Date Incorporated: 10-Apr-18

Date Incorporated: 17-Apr-18 Chamber: SEDU, Saint Lucia

Chamber: Stanley Felix Chambers, Saint Lucia Name: Rokam Resorts Ltd. Name: Executive Consulting & Mangement Services Inc. Description: Business development Directors: Sean J. Matthew

Description: Real estate, sales, and development Directors: PIF Corporate Services Inc.; Rokam Development Inc.

Date Incorporated: 11-Apr-18

Date Incorporated: 18-Apr-18

Chamber: Amicus Legal, Saint Lucia

Chamber: Peter I. Foster & Associates, Saint Lucia

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AMBER RUDD PROMISES EASIER ROUTE TO CITIZENSHIP FOR WINDRUSH MIGRANTS Home secretary blames scandal on policies of successive governments BY FT CORRESPONDENT

“The state has let these people down — travel documents denied, exclusions from returning to the UK, benefits cut, even threats of removal,” Ms Rudd said. Satbir Singh, chief executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, called Ms Rudd’s statement a “welcome first step”. He particularly praised her admission that there were “system-wide failures” that led to the problems and her admission that aspects of the “hostile environment” policy contributed to the crisis. However, he said there had been no commitment from Ms Rudd to get to “the root of the problem”. “While the steps that she’s taking to remedy the immediate situation for many of those affected are of course welcome, we still await a response from government to the need for root and branch reform of the immigration system to avoid something like this happening again,” Mr Singh said. “A sticking plaster means that lessons are not necessarily learned.” Amber Rudd: ‘I want to enable the Windrush generation to acquire the status that they deserve—British citizenship’

Amber Rudd on Monday launched a concerted government effort to silence the furore over the treatment of the “Windrush generation” of migrants from the Caribbean by launching a compensation scheme and a simpler route to UK citizenship for them. The home secretary also promised British citizenship to children of Windrush generation migrants who did not currently hold the status and waived the fees involved. “I want to enable the Windrush generation to acquire the status that they deserve—British citizenship—quickly, at no cost and with proactive assistance through the process,” Ms Rudd told the House of Commons. But her move immediately faced criticism for being too narrow. Several MPs warned that there were looming scandals with families from other former parts of the British empire who had automatically received the right to remain in the UK under legislation passed in 1971 but whose right to do so was now being questioned. Yvette Cooper, chair of the Commons home affairs select committee, said she had heard of a person who called the hotline set up last week to help Windrush migrants who had been turned away

because his family originated in Kenya. David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham who has campaigned on behalf of the Windrush generation, said there were problems facing people who had moved to the UK from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria. “Will she look particularly at all of those Commonwealth people?” he asked the home secretary. Diane Abbott, shadow home secretary, attacked Ms Rudd for blaming the scandal on “successive governments”. Ms Abbott insisted the blame lay predominantly with the 2014 Immigration Act, introduced under Theresa May, now prime minister. The act introduced a series of new obligations on employers and others to check people’s immigration status before offering them access to accommodation, jobs and services. Ms Abbott insisted the Home Office had been warned how these “hostile environment” measures might affect people like the Windrush generation who had the right to remain in the UK but often lacked documents to prove it. “It was foreseeable; it was foreseen,” Ms Abbott said of the act’s effects. “People both within her department and in this house tried to draw [Mrs May’s] attention to it.” Ms Rudd has been battling for the past

week to address the scandal over the treatment of Caribbean migrants who arrived in the UK between 1948 and the start of 1973. All have the right to remain in the UK but have struggled to provide documentary evidence of their position following the introduction of the “hostile environment” for illegal immigrants, under which people can be asked for proof of their immigration status when taking up jobs, renting homes or seeking free care from the National Health Service. Scores of members of the Windrush generation have been denied free healthcare, lost jobs, been told to pay back benefits or been refused re-entry to the UK after leaving. The government has said it believes that no one has been deported as a result of its approach. But Ms Rudd told the Commons on Monday that officials had so far checked only 4,200 of around 8,000 records of deportations dating back to 2002 to check that none involved people from the Windrush generation. Alongside the help to acquire British citizenship, Ms Rudd’s main announcement was of a compensation scheme to put right the damage many of those affected have suffered. Ms Rudd said she was setting up a new scheme, run by an independent person, to put right any loss people have suffered. Further details of the scheme would be published later, she said.

Alongside the help to acquire British citizenship, Ms Rudd’s main announcement was of a compensation scheme to put right the damage many of those affected have suffered

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EdX FOUNDER FINDS NEW HOME IN SAINT LUCIA! BY CHRISTIAN WAYNE, STAR BUSINESSWEEK EDITOR AT LARGE

The second annual Future of Work Summit concluded earlier this week at Freehold—a high-ceiling, coffee-serving, ping-pong playing community workspace and lounge in the southside of one of Brooklyn’s hippest neighbourhoods: Williamsburg, a truly New York hotspot for the young, trendy, and upwardly mobile. The owners describe the space as “a hotel lobby without the hotel” where they pair what would traditionally be conflicting activities—like drinking craft beer and engaging in high-quality work—to create a peculiar semi-professional atmosphere that’s gaining popularity across the world. Odd setting for a conference focused on the future of work, don’t you think? Think again. More and more, workers around the world are ditching their underwhelming officescapes in favour of more flexible, and frankly, more fun workspaces like Freehold—or your pick of any of the other kaleidoscopic variations creeping up in cities (and islands) across the globe. What’s driving this trend? It’s a few different factors but the main one is that thanks to advances in communication technologies like Skype, Google Drive and email, people can be just as productive from their living rooms as they can be from their cubicles—in fact, usually more productive.

Anant Argawal is an electrical engineering and computer science professor at MIT, in addition to being a successful serial entrepreneur and thought leader.

Don’t believe me? Just look at WeWork, a US$18bn market cap provider of co-working space around the world. The company is less than 10 years old and shows no signs of slowing down soon. The really interesting part though is that

these tectonic shifts aren’t happening in isolation. They never do. What’s happening to workplaces is also happening to university campuses around the world. Increasingly, work is becoming more location-independent. And so is learning.

Enter Mr Anant Argawal, CEO of EdX, the world’s leading provider of high-quality, low-cost online education to literally hundreds of millions of people across the world. EdX’s platform partners with the world’s leading academic institutions, like Harvard and MIT, to make their courses available for free on the EdX platform. Argawal and his team are mavericks in the education industry with EdX playing an instrumental role in what the future of higher education could possibly look like. That future, surprisingly, could be happening a lot closer to home than most Saint Lucians would’ve thought. At the Illumination Lecture Series hosted earlier this week by Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, the EdX CEO joined a roomful of SALCC administrators and students for a panel discussion on the future of learning. Yes. You read that right. SALCC. Future of learning. Same sentence. Odd setting for Mr Argawal, don’t you think? Think again! Turns out, Mr. Argawal has come down with a rather stubborn bout of Helen Fever—curable only by purchasing vacation property on the island. Anant Argawal has chosen a fortuitous moment to join our Saint Lucian family—a time when Saint Lucians need access to quality, low-cost education, like his, more than ever. From the team at STAR Publishing, we wish the Argawal family a warm welcome to our humble paradise.

FINANCIALLY SPEAKING Financial Literacy 101 presented by Bank of Saint Lucia

LET’S TALK MORTGAGES!

prepared to answer these questions accurately and honestly.

Decided to purchase or build your own home? If you have considered the latter, your approved plan from the Development Control Authority is an important requirement. Consider the term and repayment that you are comfortable with. Interest rates for mortgages are particularly competitive. Discuss with your financial institution. Discuss whether the rate is fixed for the duration of the loan or whether it is subject to review from time to time. Here are a few tips to help you along on your journey to acquiring or building your home: Mortgage loans are assessed in the same way as any other type of loan. However, the term of a mortgage is substantially longer. Most mortgage loans can run for up to 30 years until retirement age.

A down payment is a typical requirement and can range on average between 5-10% of total amount. A cost estimate from a well-regarded and experienced contractor is required. Verification of the estimate from a qualified Quantity Surveyor is advisable. Compliance letters from Inland Revenue & National Insurance Corporation are required. If you are purchasing property, these compliance letters are required for the seller as well. Some institutions require valuations from an approved Quantity Surveyor. Find out if there are any special conditions.

A comprehensive applicant evaluation must be conducted. Typical required documents include a job letter and salary slip. Your job tenure, stability and salary all play a significant role in your mortgage loan assessment.

Security required for a mortgage can include – a salary assignment/ deduction, a hold over the property (hypothecary obligation), assignment of life insurance or credit life insurance, house insurance and/or insurance under construction.

Your financial services provider will inquire about your loan/borrowing history and your monthly financial responsibilities. Go into your interview

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A hypothecary obligation is a hold over the property for which the loan is being granted. Most institutions hold a first hypothecary obligation, meaning there are no previous holds on the property. In cases where the other institution holds a first hypothecary obligation, have a discussion with your financial institution. Assignment of life insurance forms part of the mortgage security. You may opt to assign your policy to the bank or in some cases, choose credit life insurance - offered by some institutions. Full Hazard insurance is another form of security. In building your home, the insurance required during the construction phase is referred to as “Insurance under Construction,” which can be converted to full Hazard Insurance upon completion of the project. A commitment fee, which is a small percentage of your loan amount, will be required. Other fees include legal and insurance. Visit your financial today!

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TEL: 1 758 456 6000 FAX: 1 758 456 6720

EMAIL: cardservices@bankofsaintlucia.com WEB: www.bankofsaintlucia.com

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