Industry Advocates

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Industry Advocates Formed over 30 years ago with the aim of giving a voice to the sector, the Caribbean Association of Banks is now helping members push back against external threats

By Catherine Morris, STAR Businessweek Correspondent

Mary Popo, General Manager of the Caribbean Association of Banks (CAB)

Round-tripping: how tiny Mauritius became India’s main investor Once a land of sugar plantations and rum distillers, Mauritius has evolved into one of Africa’s most advanced economies. The catalyst has been foreign investment Page 3

The Caribbean banking industry is a sector under siege.

Faced with an onslaught of ramped-up regulation from global watchdogs, the region’s financial providers face a stark choice – comply, or face heavy penalties. The squeeze on so-called ‘tax havens’ began shortly after the 2008 global recession and has steadily intensified, leading Caribbean governments and bankers through various iterations of automatic exchange of information such as the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, Base Erosion and Profit Shifting and, most recently, the Common Reporting Standard.

Continued on page 4

Airlines hit out at increases in UK passenger taxes Airlines have criticised increases in air passenger taxes in the UK after it was announced in the Budget on Monday that the duty would rise in line with inflation from 2020 Page 7

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The World Bank’s Project Pipeline in Saint Lucia

By Ed Kennedy, STAR Businessweek Correspondent

resource development across the island, that first obtained bank approval in December 2014, is now slated for close in January 2019. Though the $1.16 million budgeted for the project cost is not small fry, it is dwarfed by the $19 million set aside for the Bank’s education development project, and the $68 million allocated to the nation’s vulnerability reduction project.

It is with these cold, hard figures that a clear-cut understanding of the Bank’s project priorities in partnership with Saint Lucians can be seen. Many factors go into the commissioning of a project, yet the substantive investment in health and education, plus the vulnerability reduction project that seeks to combat the impact of climate change, represent cornerstones of building Saint Lucia’s future economic growth in partnership with the Bank.

Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister Honourable Allen Chastanet (left) with World Bank Country Director Tahseen Sayed

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ctober saw the news the World Bank would provide $20 million of funding towards strengthening the public health care system here in Saint Lucia. This initiative itself is notable, yet also follows on from other projects within the nation in education, combatting the impact of climate change, and energy development.

While anything with a headline price tag like $20 million will always garner much attention and enthusiasm, the diverse work of the World Bank is something often overlooked until it is viewed overall, just as the priorities of certain Bank projects can often slip by those who may not have an in-depth interest in the relevant field.

So what has the track record of the World Bank’s funding initiatives in Saint Lucia been like? And how does the Bank approach its work in the wider Caribbean region? Let’s look now.

The History of the World Bank

For nations across the globe the World Bank has long played a vital role in fostering economic growth and seeking to secure stability during times of crisis. Established following World War II, the Bank is commonly identified as one organisation.

Yet, in practice, it is actually five groups all bound together: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the International Development Association (IDA) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

Beginning chiefly with a role of lending and providing loans to nations ravaged by World War II so that they could rebuild, subsequent years have seen the bank become best known for its role in funding capital projects and assisting developing nations in economic growth, with the IBRD

and IDA serving as the two core wings of this goal.

Saint Lucia and the World Bank

Within Saint Lucia the World Bank has engaged numerous projects that seek to address issues that are common around the world, yet locally have unique characteristics based on the way in which Saint Lucians live and work.

Its recent health initiative is not only seen as a down-payment on the battle against diabetes and heart disease — both of which have become more common here — but also as an avenue to see over 100,000 Saint Lucians ultimately covered by health insurance. Certainly there remain inroads to be made in this sphere in a nation of 179,000, but with well over half the population to be covered by the end of the project, it is a strong foundation for the future.

As this new health initiative begins, the World Bank’s involvement in geothermal

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Within Saint Lucia the World Bank has engaged numerous projects that seek to address issues that are common around the world, yet locally have unique characteristics based on the way in which Saint Lucians live and work The Caribbean Connection

Alongside Saint Lucia, fifteen other Caribbean nations are members of the World Bank Group. Every nation has its own unique trials but, from the Bank’s perspective, it identifies across regional nations the threat that environmental factors like climate change and hurricanes can pose. But it also sees the thriving opportunity for the further development of services, logistics, and the digital and creative sectors. With Saint Lucia a member of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), it finds itself amidst a group that can recognise in the Bank’s mission a path to spur economic growth that further reduces poverty, and optimises the use of skilled workers to ensure that growth is stable and ongoing.

Continued on page 5

Development Finance – Mauritius

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Round-tripping: how tiny Mauritius became India’s main investor Statistical disparities highlight foreigners’ tax evasion even as FDI has driven progress

By Adrienne Klasa, FT Development Finance Editor

With FDI the catalyst, Port Louis (above) is today the capital of an advanced African services economy © Alamy

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nce a land of sugar plantations and rum distillers, Mauritius has evolved into one of Africa’s most advanced economies. The catalyst has been foreign investment.

The remarkable metamorphosis from a commodity exporter to a middle-income financial hub has allowed Mauritius to average GDP growth of 4 per cent between 2001 and 2016.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has driven the economy’s transformation since the 1960s from one based on agriculture to one that is “labour-oriented, particularly in textiles and tourism”, says James Zhan, UN Conference for Trade and Development (Unctad) director for investment and enterprise.

While foreign investment has benefitted Mauritius, tax evasion through a practice known as investment round-tripping — where capital is channelled through a low

tax jurisdiction before being reimported into the economy of origin as FDI — remains a problem.

So far in 2018, the country has attracted $285.6m in greenfield FDI — namely investments in new projects or expansions of existing ones — compared with just $31m in 2017. Last year was the slowest for investments into Mauritius since 2003, according to FT sister company fDi Markets, because of slowing flows from China.

Investors in France, South Africa, the US and India are leading sources, putting funds into property, IT and tourism. In the past five years holiday company Club Med and US telecoms specialist Verizon have made investments of over $100m in Mauritius, in line with the government’s development strategy.

For its part, Mauritius has made the transition to a “financial hub, high-grade tourism and services economy”, says Mr Zhan.

As foreign investment interest in Africa has

grown, Mauritius has presented itself as an investment hub for the continent. It regularly tops rankings for Africa measuring the ease of doing business. In a continent often associated with volatile politics the country enjoys a stable multi-party democracy, says US-based political research group Freedom House.

In the capital, Port Louis, the stock exchange is set to launch a new index designed to track African equities. “The trend we are seeing is that a lot of new issues and listings are Africa-centric,” says chief executive Sunil Benimadhu. While most African countries require fellow Africans to wade through red tape for visas and work permits, Mauritius mostly eschews such restrictions.

“The number one thing for us was getting work permits,” says Fred Swaniker, a Ghanaian and founder of African Leadership University, which opened its campus in Mauritius in 2015. Within a month it was granted 40 permits and in two years had permits for 200 staff. While Mauritius’ low tax rates are attractive, Mr Swaniker argues that work permits and a lack of foreign exchange controls are what really make the island stand out compared with other African destinations.

A glance at Mauritius’ outward investment figures, however, indicates there is more going on. While greenfield investment into Mauritius between 2003 and 2018 totalled $4.7bn, equivalent outward flows over the same period were almost three times higher at $13.5bn.

The imbalance of outward investment from a small economy like Mauritius suggests that round-tripping is happening at scale.

In 2017-18, Mauritius was the top source of investment into India, with $13.4bn or 36 per cent of the total, according to Indian central bank data. This is intriguing, given that India’s economy is the world’s sixth largest, while Mauritius’ is 124th in current US dollar terms.

This disparity indicates that a large portion of those investments were not ultimately destined for Mauritius, says Mr Zhan. “It was round-tripping and going elsewhere using Mauritius as a springboard.”

Putting hard numbers on round-tripping is next to impossible. “It has become extremely difficult to distinguish between round-tripped

capital and genuine FDI globally,” says John Christensen, director of UK-based think-tank Tax Justice Network.

The use of letter box companies in Mauritius as a means of avoiding the taxman first became a problem in the 1990s, though this appears set to change.

In an effort to crack down, India and Mauritius amended their double-taxation treaty in 2016 and the changes are being phased in this year and next.

Re-invoicing is the most common technique used for round-tripping. An Indian company exporting to Europe, for example, will invoice products through Mauritius. “Profit accrues to the company in Mauritius, and that company doesn’t pay any taxes,” Mr Christensen explains.

Capital that accrues in the Mauritian shell company is then imported back into India, appearing as FDI in the capital account.

Local authorities are adamant that the island is a “fully co-operative and responsible” financial centre. “We don’t want to be used as a base for [people] to bypass their taxation duties to their home countries,” says Mr Benimadhu.

Mauritius has joined the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard and the OECD-G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative and was rated compliant in 2017. With these new arrangements and measures “roundtripping will be reduced, not overnight, but these efforts will have results,” Mr Zhan says.

Critics say most of the changes are cosmetic. “They’ve opted out of large and very important parts [of the BEPS treaty],” Mr Christensen says, and companies adopt a “ticked box” approach that limits the scope of due diligence. “The whole thing is a charade.” While round-tripping out of India looks likely to fall under the new treaty, the same strictures might not apply to other African nations. “We’ve been concerned for a decade”, says Mr Christensen, about capital “out of east and southern Africa coming through Mauritius”.

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Industry Advocates Continued from page 1

General Manager of the Caribbean Association of Banks (CAB) Mary Popo says this is a new era for the industry, with much at stake. “One of the things that has really changed [since the CAB formed in 1974] is the barrage of regulation and legislation that has impacted the sector,” she says. “We are not just little countries operating in silos, we are exposed to what happens externally and internationally.”

Many Caribbean nations rely on their financial services sector – as a means of employment and a substantial contributor to GDP – and, for these jurisdictions, a blacklisting can be devastating. Saint Lucia had its own brush with the EU’s notorious tax haven blacklist when it found itself named and shamed in December 2017.

The country was removed from the list four months later but other Caribbean jurisdictions have not been so lucky, with some suffering extended stays on the dreaded list and others hopping on and off so rapidly that the industry can’t keep up.

The resulting negative press does not help the Caribbean shed its image as a hideout for wealthy tax evaders.

“The reputational risk is huge,” says Popo.

“Perception is very difficult to change. We have to be very strategic and we have to have a plan. It will take a concerted effort by heads of governments to come together and to really strategise on this and do the things we ought to do.”

The CAB is playing its part by ensuring the region has a seat at the table for any international discussions. CAB leaders are frequent attendees at IMF forums, international conferences and high-level meetings. Popo says: “CAB has played an important role in educating civil society, governments and the players in the industry.

We provide information and raise the consciousness.”

De-risking

Another pressing issue on the agenda for the CAB is helping its members overcome the effects of de-risking. In recent years, correspondent banks have retrenched,

closing down operations in Caribbean countries as they attempt to cut costs and minimise risk. Popo explains: “It is a business decision. It is about the dynamic between risk and return. Every time you have another blacklisting it just exacerbates it. Correspondent banking relationships are so important for us. The financial services sector is the bedrock of the regional economy. It is our livelihood.”

Popo suggests that better communication, both with international banks and with the global financial services sector in general, can help the region maintain its correspondent banking relationships.

Financial providers, governments and advocacy groups need to be more proactive and vocal about the region’s strengths, skills and stability.

Bankers can also look to technology to reduce costs and streamline their

General Manager of the Caribbean Association of Banks (CAB) Mary Popo says this is a new era for the industry, with much at stake

compliance infrastructure, using transparent, stringent and cost-effective measures to put international partners at ease. “Digilisation gives banks the tools they need [to deal with the threat of de-risking],” says Popo.

“It helps them see where the gaps are [in their compliance infrastructure] and work to close those gaps. Over the past five years we have seen an acceleration of banks that spend on technology.”

Working with fintech companies can help

Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), Mr. Timothy Antoine (left) with Managing Director of 1st National Bank St. Lucia, Mr. Johnathan Johannes at the recent CAB Annual General Meeting in Nassua, Bahamas

banks automate their AML/CTF regimes and transform both back-office and frontof-house services. Innovation can help providers stay ahead of the curve and satisfy customers and regulators. Popo points to Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) as an exciting area with a lot of potential for financial institutions. APIs are an opportunity for banks to collaborate with fintechs, resulting in a more personalised customer experience, new revenue streams, new products and operational efficiencies.

“APIs provide that connectivity, the fintechs are there and they are evolving,” says Popo.

With greater use of technology, comes a corresponding increase in vulnerability.

Banks navigating this new space must make cybersecurity a priority. For Caribbean providers, it’s important to keep an eye on technology trends and prepare, says Popo who adds: “It’s like a hurricane – you know it is coming, so you have to ask yourself how you can prepare for it. Building resilience [to cyber threats] in the sector is critical.”

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Working with fintech companies can help banks automate their AML/CTF regimes and transform both back-office and front-ofhouse services.

Innovation can help providers stay ahead of the curve and satisfy customers and regulators

great, but Popo is sanguine about the banking industry’s survival saying: “The way we bank is changing and will continue to change [but] I’m optimistic about the sector’s future. Banking is here to stay, just not in its traditional form. We have to find new and innovative ways of doing business.

We are in a transformative stage.”

Encouraging new blood into the sector will lead to new thinking in this transformative period, and the CAB is focused on supporting the next generation of banks through training, scholarships, mentoring and networking.

The organisation offers three US$10,000 banking scholarships every three years and has also teamed up with Bangor University and University of Wisconsin-Madison to provide scholarships to those schools. Popo

says: “The opportunities for employment in the Caribbean are limited so financial services is a sector that gets a lot of young people coming in. It is an area that is attractive to them. Our young people are our future; we have to continue to encourage them and build their education.”

There is definitely no shortage of interest and passion in the sector. The CAB recently held its 45th conference in The Bahamas and around 250 attendees converged on the event to mingle, learn, debate and discuss. One of the main issues on the agenda was digitisation and how banks can arm themselves with technological know-how to withstand the challenges ahead. It is a topic that resonates throughout the industry, according to Popo, who warns: “Banking is evolving and we have to evolve with it and be ready.”

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The World Bank’s Project Pipeline in Saint Lucia Continued from page 2

The Office of the Executive Director (EDS07) represents Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Collectively, they represent the constituency countries in meetings at the World Bank Group

A Bank For the Whole World?

While the World Bank has clearly brought some benefits to Saint Lucia and other Caribbean nations, there are ongoing issues, when it comes to the World Bank’s structure, that could pose a growing challenge to the nations of the Caribbean in the years to come, especially given the current political climate globally.

However one looks at it, while the World Bank has 189 countries among its members, the weight and influence of the organisation heavily favours the most powerful nations on Earth. The USA, Japan, the People’s Republic of China, Germany, and France make up the top five in terms of voting power.

Each of these nations is an economic heavyweight in its own right and, when the mindset is mutual, they can form a powerful bloc that can

far outpace the voice of a smaller nation(s) that is a member.

Yet the era of ‘post-Truth’ of Trump and Brexit has seen a thumping return of great power politics to the world stage, where economic heavyweights flirt heavily with full-blown trade wars daily. In this climate, little nations can more easily be squeezed and smothered, and how the World Bank’s power dynamics play out, remains a matter that little nations need to monitor carefully.

The Path Ahead

For many local stakeholders, it is often felt that the ultimate goal for any nation that utilises foreign funding is to develop and grow to a point at which capital and funding from abroad is no longer required.

While this perception is

understandable — and certainly there’s a universal aspiration across Saint Lucia to see further development and economic growth — there remains a marked difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ debt. Many nations (including the richest and most powerful in the world) continue to utilise ‘good’ debt to fund their future economic growth.

The ongoing challenge for Saint Lucia and other Caribbean nations is to build a productive and strong working relationship with the World Bank that sees not only ongoing funding deliver new growth, but also sees the funding deployed and utilised most effectively.

There is no suggestion that such a task is easy, just that any who seek a stronger economy for Saint Lucia or less World Bank involvement can find common middle ground in the most effective application of World Bank funding going forward into the future.

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Inclusive financing enables women to scale their agri-businesses

By Robin Darrel

Robin Darrel, Founder & CEO of Fudgies and President of the Saint Lucia Network Rural Women Producers

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n the Caribbean, female farmers, agro-processors and crafters all face the same problem: accessing finance to start businesses and to purchase land or business premises. Since 2017, I have been the president of the Saint Lucia Network of Rural Women Producers, which is

comprised of four clusters that manufacture a range of products including gluten-free flour, breadfruit, dried fruits, chocolates, juices, jams, jellies, chutney and relishes.

All of the clusters are in need of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)-certified processing facilities, but these come at a significant cost.

While one of the four clusters is about to move to an HACCP-certified processing facility, as a result of an EU-funded government project, most producers have to try to raise their own financing to grow their businesses.

This is a challenge because most of the women run their businesses from home and do not keep the kinds of detailed records that financial institutions expect when they are approached for a loan.

Financial institutions’ requirement for collateral in the form of land ownership is also a problem, as most women either use family-owned land or squatted land.

Women therefore need more support to access finance, as well as larger and more financially profitable markets.

Gaining financing for my own fudgemaking business, Fudgies, has been a challenge. Fudgies started in 2014 when I was asked by a shop owner to supply them with fudge. I did not have the money to purchase the ingredients, so the owner invested EC$500 (163 Euros) and I was able to deliver 50 boxes to her by the end of the week. While the initial loan helped to start the business, I

needed a greater sum of money to make the business more profitable and sustainable.

I approached five different financial agencies, which each said that they did not provide loans to start-ups. I then contacted a local financial institution, called Belfund, which supports local entrepreneurs and provides loans. As well as giving me a loan of EC$12,000 (3,800 Euros), Belfund visited me once a month to ensure that the financial side of my business was running well. They checked my record-keeping and made sure that my accounts were balancing and that I was making a profit. The loan enabled me to refurbish my processing space, purchase equipment and open my first shop in Grand Riviere. I now produce about 250 boxes of fudge per month.

I still face production challenges and have to manufacture my fudge by hand. Instead of seeking another loan I am looking for grants to purchase processing equipment.

More programmes like Belfund are needed to help women business leaders to access loans, and train them to keep the necessary financial records so that it is easier for them to acquire support from mainstream financial institutions. With more inclusive financing opportunities, more women like me will be able to scale up their production and reach higher value markets.

Originally appeared in Spore Magazine

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Airlines hit out at increases in UK passenger taxes BA owner IAG says the move ‘undermined Britain’s global competitiveness’

By Josh Spero, FT Transportation Correspondent

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irlines have criticised increases in air passenger taxes in the UK after it was announced in the Budget on Monday that the duty would rise in line with inflation from 2020.

IAG, which owns British Airways, said it was “ironic” that the Budget “undermined Britain’s global competitiveness” by raising airport passenger duty (APD).

“Last year, British Airways’ passengers paid £682m in APD. We want to offer more flights to key trading markets, like our European competitors, but APD stifles route development to new emerging markets,” IAG said.

BA flies the busiest long-haul route in the world, between London and New York.

In the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, the UK came fifth overall but 135th out of 136 for price competitiveness, just ahead of Switzerland.

The Board of Airline Representatives in the UK, which has 70 members, said the increase was “beyond the comprehension of airlines as they seek clarity and confidence in the UK economy”.

It added that Philip Hammond, the UK chancellor, should have promoted long-haul travel to new markets ahead of Brexit.

Mr Hammond said on Monday: “From April 2020 [air passenger duty] will be indexed in line with inflation, but there will be no change in the duty rate for short-haul flights.”

APD, which is paid by each traveller

British Airways’ passengers paid £682m in air passenger duty last year, according to the airline’s owner IAG © Bloomberg

flying from UK airports to domestic and international destinations, increases by distance and cabin class.

In 2017-18, the tax raised £3.4bn. It will now raise an extra £800m between 2020-21 and 2022-23, according to revised figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

At the moment, the rates include £13 for short-haul economy class, £156 for longhaul premium classes and £468 for longhaul private jet flights. It has been frozen for short-haul flights for eight years.

However, the 2020 rise will be much lower than the 2019 rise the chancellor announced in his Budget last year, when

he said the long-haul rate for higher cabin classes would increase by £16 to £172 from April 2019 and for those travelling by private jet by £47 to £515 — a rise of about 10 per cent in each case.

Asked if the industry was overreacting, given the new changes were much smaller than last year’s, Victoria Bacon, of the Association of British Travel Agents, said: “We reacted badly last year and if there are increases announced year on year in this way then that has a damaging impact.”

There was some joy for the aviation sector as Mr Hammond announced epassport gates, which allow swifter passage through

airports, would be opened up to more countries next year.

At the moment, only passengers from European Economic Area countries — the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway — and Switzerland can use them, but Mr Hammond said travellers from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan would be able to as well.

John Holland-Kaye, chief executive of Heathrow airport, welcomed the move but said: “The government should make this happen before the end of March 2019 to demonstrate that Britain is open for business, as we leave the EU.”

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OECS to Take “Aggressive Steps” to Show “Unreasonableness of OECD”

By Christian Nesheim, Editor, Investor Migration Insider

Prime Minister of Saint Vincent & the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves has been a vocal critic of the wave of citizenship investment programmes cropping up in the region, but he’s an even bigger critic of the OECD’s approach to reigning them in

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he Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) — five of whose six sovereign member states have Citizenship by Investment Programmes — has responded to the OECD’s recent report.

The OECD, in its report, singled out Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts & Nevis, and Saint Lucia, citing concerns that these countries’ CIPs may be used to circumvent the Common Reporting Standards (CRS).

Current chairman of the OECS, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the only sovereign member state of the OECS without a CIP, noted the OECS had debated the topic at length during a recent meeting.

“We had a long discussion and all the arguments have been marshalled to make sure that we take aggressive steps to show the unreasonableness of the OECD position and, at the same time, the countries themselves undertake to look to see areas in their Citizenship

by Investment/Resident by Investment Programmes where there are areas in which there may be any limitations where those can be strengthened. So there was a good and long discussion, as you’d expect on a subject like that, particularly consequent upon the OECD statement,” said Gonsalves.

Gonsalves’ statement is noteworthy because, while he is himself an opponent of CIPs and has long dismissed calls from the opposition in his own country to introduce such a programme, he nonetheless acknowledges the unjust OECD-position on the matter.

Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)

The OECD, in its report, singled out Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts & Nevis, and Saint Lucia, citing concerns that these countries’ CIPs may be used to circumvent the Common Reporting Standards (CRS)

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