Seychelles' offshore sector has received yet another boost following the approval by the Assembly of a bill seeking the setting up of a system of licensing and regulation for agents who provide corporate services for companies, trusts and partnerships in that sector.

Presenting the International Corporate Service Providers Bill 2003 to the National Assembly last week the Minister for Industries and International Business, Jacquelin Dugasse, said the bill would ensure that financial services offered by registered agents in this sector were in line with international standards.

He said it would also enable the Seychelles International Business Authority (SIBA) to discharge its regulatory functions more effectively and in conformity with norms recommended by the United Nations and other organisations.

"It would likewise put the authority on a par with other regulatory bodies in highly reputed and modern financial jurisdictions," the minister added.

The new organisations to come into existence as a result of the legislation, Minister Dugasse said, would require corporate services to have a high level of professional, competence and integrity.

Under the new regulation, licences would be issued to companies interested in providing financial services only when the applicant has met with all what has been termed in the bill as "fit and proper" criteria.

SIBA will be authorised to carry out on-site inspection of licensees to ensure that their records and business management plans were in line with its regulatory code.

The bill also makes provision for concessions in social security, trades tax and Gainful Occupation Permit (GOP) for licensed international corporate service providers. 

Such incentives, the minister said, would further encourage value-added services and put them on a par with those being offered by other modern jurisdictions.

He said the bill, the last in a series of five bills targeting the offshore sector, would help propel the industry into the second phase of its development.

Minister Dugasse noted that over the last seven years, the sector had brought in 12,700 International Business Companies (IBCs), and had seen the registration of 71 International Trusts and 31 SITZ (Seychelles International Trade Zone) companies.

In terms of foreign exchange revenue, the offshore sector, the minister said, had generated US$5 million annually and was exporting US$150 million worth of products.

Revenue being retained in the economy is R32 million.

The bill was described as a ground-breaking legislation by Honourable Shelton Jolicoeur, who said that it would mainly help maintain Seychelles' reputation as a criminal-free jurisdiction and promote our offshore sector as an institution with high standards of competence.

The new regulation, he said, would contribute to further the growth of the country's third economic pillar which held vital commercial importance.

The two other members who spoke in support of the bill were Hon. Bernard Georges and Hon. Rukaiya Jumaye.

LINKS