President's Message

Introduction to the Newsletter

It is with great pride that we launch the first edition of The Offshore Financial Intermediary, Official e-based publication of the Offshore Institute. We trust that you will find the format and information contained herein of interest and beneficial to you. The sections have been created with members in mind. However, if there is an area that you would like to see covered or would like to contribute an article or periodic column, then let me know.

I want to personally thank all of the Executive Committee Members, Regional and Chapter Chairpersons for the contributions that they have made to the content of this first edition. In addition, I wish to give grand recognition to Mr. Rene Kooyman who has been taken to assist in matters relating to membership services and related areas. He has a varied cultural background and education as well as a keen sensitivity to issues of concern to the international financial service sector. Amongst other activities, he is a member of the Board of World Radio Geneva CSA and lectures at the International University in Geneva. Welcome aboard Rene !

Please let us have your comments that result from your reading this first edition.

Samuel M. Lohman (mailto:lohman@lsfa-law.ch)

Message From the President

I take the office of presidency at a critical time in the history of the international financial service industry in general; and thus at an important time for members of the Offshore Institute in particular.

Factors that make this time particularly important include the pressure placed on international practitioners in the form of new laws, regulations, and cooperation amongst nations at a level never seen before. What the end result will be remains to be seen. I of course, advocate change for the better. Change for the better generally results from decisions made after full disclosure, comprehension, advice and comment. As a practitioner for over 12 years in the international financial service industry, I do not believe that matters affecting our industry are decided in general after full disclosure, comprehension, advice and comment.

It remains to be seen whether the OECD, UN, and other organizations as well as the impact on of the Qualified Intermediary relationship will have the positive impact that the authorities would have the private sector believe. In any event, the process has been wrong. The industry has generally not been consulted, inherited the expense of enforcement which has traditionally been born by the public sector, and / or generally been the victim of half truths regarding the alleged evils that occur in the offshore world.

The difficulties that we face as an industry is the lack of understanding both at the governmental level and within the private sector in general. In addition, offshore jurisdictions no longer have the luxury of competing amongst each other; we must unite in order to be able to show a common voice in order to provide the input that is needed by the likes of the OECD, UN, and others, so that decisions are made on the basis of facts, respectful of sovereignty, privacy, and traditional notions of fairness amongst nations.

There is a general lack of sensitivity to the contribution that the international financial service industry (and offshore jurisdictions in particular) makes toward the success of the international financial world in general. Unfortunately, neither the industry nor the individual jurisdictions, which compose the same, have either the budget or the coordination to counter miss-information generated about the industry. Miss-information leads to bad decisions; such bad decisions harm the industry and our core businesses in particular.

This is in deed a critical time for the international financial service industry. Yet it is an opportune time for the Offshore Institute. The Offshore Institute has had at its core, the role of educating government and the private sector on matters that are relevant to the industry that we work in. Further, we are to generally elevate in ethics and professionalism in our industry as well.

We need your help in order to: (1) increase knowledge of the good that our industry contributes to the world; (2) increase our membership base, (3) increase our presence throughout the world, and (4) continue to play the role as advocate and educator in matters relating to the international financial service industry.

Whether you represent government or private sector and where ever you may be in the world, contact me or Deputy President, Mr. Jerry James, should you have a desire to play a role in the Offshore Institute and our desire to meet our responsibilities to the industry.

News Flash:

Walter B. Diamond’s birthday

The Offshore Institute wishes to recognise Walter B. Diamond's birthday. Walter is one of the original incorporators of The Institute, when it was formed in 1989 during a meeting in a hotel room in Lisbon. Walter and his wife Dorothy continue to work tirelessly to promote the offshore industry in general and The Offshore Institute in particular. By writing numerous articles each month, keeping up their various publications also each month, and by lecturing several times per year the Diamonds continue to teach that the world is a safer and better place when it is combined with proper offshore financial planning. Furthermore, the marvellous respectability that both these Diamonds give to the offshore world in their natural and unassuming ways, combined with their unbridled enthusiasm, proves again that for The Offshore Institute, these Diamonds are forever! Happy birthday Walter!

OECD FATF on Money Laundering

The OECD FATF (Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering) has met in Paris a week ago in order to review current money laundering trends. They have published an updated overview of actions taken by the 15 so-called ‘non-cooperative’ countries that they have identified in their global fight against money laundering. The FATF confirms that a number of states have made impressive strides towards improving their counter-money laundering regimes. Nevertheless the FATF is not yet satisfied.

For general information on the state of affairs click FATF report on money laundering trends for 2000-2001 or visit the general homepage of the FATF at http://www.oecd.org/fatf/. For reading the Progress Report see: FATF Progress Report (PDF File)

The Icelandic Act of International Trading Companies

ICELAND is a recent participant as a jurisdiction in the field of International Trading Centres. It has now become an interesting location for ITC´s. The Icelandic Act of International Trading Companies was enacted in 1999, and valuable experiences have been gained since then.

The Iceland Chamber of Commerce, in Reykjavik, supervises promotion and information services concerning ITC´s in Iceland. Mr. Davíð Scheving Thorsteinsson, who prepared and has taken care of this project from the very beginning, retired in October 2000, completing a very important career as one of the leaders of Icelandic industry and commerce for a generation.

His replacement as project manager is Mr. Jón Sigurðsson. Mr. Sigurðsson, Ph.D., MBA, formerly was general manager of an employers´association in Reykjavik and college professor. See: www.chamber.is/english/Itce/itcintro.htm

For further info contact: jon@chamber.is and/or davidsch@islandia.is

OI Membership Activity Reports

Newly appointed Executive Committee

It is a pleasure to report that the newly appointed Executive Committee consists of: Mr. Samuel Lohman as President of the Offshore Institute, Mr. Jerry James was appointed Deputy President and in addition the Executive Committee shall consist of Ben Bendelow, Mr. Barry Engel, Mr. Reg Newton, Mr. David Chong, and Arian Schiltkamp. For further background information about the Executive Committee Members, please visit the Offshore Institute’s Official Website at www.offshoreinstitute.com.

The offshore Institutes Chapter Chairs

The Chapter Chairs are one of the keys to our strategy of improving member communications and increasing membership. The OI will be making a concerted effort to redesign and reposition the Chapter Chair as the focal point of its membership services and communication mechanism.

We are looking for dedicated professionals to serve in the capacity of local jurisdiction Chapter Chair and Deputy Chapter Chair. These individuals would be responsible for the co-ordination of no less than quarterly meetings with the other Offshore Institute members in their jurisdiction and will be expected to disseminate important industry information both in regard to the local jurisdiction and international developments.

The following persons have been appointed as chairperson for the different regions mentioned:

Australiasia
Mr. David McNair
Law Research Corporation
10877 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 1403
Los Angeles CA USA
Tel : +0 310 443 – 0086 fax +1 310 443-5536
mailto:dmcnair@lawrescorp.com

Cyprus
Mr. Peter Economides
P. G. Economides & Co
17 Gr. Xenopoulou Street
P.O. Box 53117 Limasol CYPRUS
Tel +357 5 866 300 fax +357 5 866 301
mailto:audit@pgeconomides.com

Berian
Mr. Mario Castro
Premier Financial Services International Ltd.
2-5 Bond Street Suite 2E
Stand Brook House London WIX 3TB UK
Tel +44 207 629 1734 fax +44 207 629 1737
mailto: mcastro@hlcmm.pt

Iceland
Mr. David Thorsteinsson
Burnham International Limited
Vegmuli 2 , 108 Reykjavik ICELAND
Tel +354 510 1600 fax +354 510 1610
mailto: david@burnham.is

Isle of Man Mr. Reg Newton
Meridian management Ltd.
P.O.Box 66 Suite 1
Douglas IM99 1EE Isle of Man
Tel +44 1624 625 935 fax +44 1624 671848
mailto: meridian@mcb.net

Mauritius Mr. Ben Lim
Intercontinental trust Limited
Suite 802 St. James Court
St. Dennis Street Port-Louis MAURITIUS
Tel +230 212 7600 fax +230 212 3557
mailto: benlim@intnet.mu

UK Mr. Ian Le Breton
The Royal Bank of Scotland
1, Fleet st. London, Ec4Y 1BD UK
tel +44 207 527 7503 fax +44 207 583 2083 mailto:IanLeBreton@RBSINT.Com

New Chair Persons welcome

The OI is trying to improve its regional representation and is looking for additional Chair Persons. An appointment as a Chair Person will be based on several factors:

The overall character and professional background of the individual The individual and his organisation's commitment to having regular functions to communicate OI information.

The individual and Company’s buy-in to our need to build membership and resources The support of our other members in the locale environment

As is said about politics, all politics are local politics. When it comes to membership services, we intend to focus our efforts at the local level with our international support, including our show of commitment by way of conferences, roundtables, membership information packets, newsletters, website, discounts, and the like. Also proposed is the office of "Provisional Chair" which graduates into chapter chair status upon securing 20 members or more.

As we develop further the chairperson functional structure, we would appreciate your suggestions on the broad structure of the global strategic chair organization. Specifically, we envisage a Regional, National, and Local Chair structure. We have received solicitation from various interested parties, but the question still remains...who to lead and where do we want Chapters? You have vast knowledge and networks at the levels needed. Please assist directly with your suggestions and let us know if you have any particular input. You can send your info to: Jerry James (jerryjames@offshoreinstitute.com.)

Info from the Chair Persons:

UK Membership growing

The UK Chapter is looking back to a very successful meeting held at Thursday evening Feb 15th : 36 guests and a wonderful speaker: Anthony Cowen, Senior Partner of Fairmays. The membership base of the UK Chapter has shown a steady growth during the last period. For info: contact Ian Le Breton, RBSI London Team, tel: +44 (0)20 7427 7503 fax: +44 (0)20 7583 2083.

The Education Committee

The next scheduled Conference of the Educational Committee will take place this at 19 - 20 April 2001 at the Iberian Peninsula Conference (see Conference Calendar).

The Offshore Institute will be sponsoring a Cocktail Reception at the upcoming program to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada on 8 - 9 May, 2001. This program is organized by Professional Education Systems Inc., with whom The Institute has worked extensively in the past. We are also co-sponsoring a national program organized by the Illinois Society of C.P.A.s. The venue is Las Vegas, at the New York New York Hotel.

The Educational Committee has reached an agreement with two international conference organizers that involves "co-partnering" conferences with The Offshore Institute. As part of these agreements, Institute members will receive 15% off of published conference rates. The two organizers are The Offshore Institute and Euromoney Seminars, London.

Conference Calendar

The Iberian Peninsula Conference is scheduled at 18th-20th April 2001 and will be held at Madrid Spain. For information on this Conference contact Mario Castro/Claudia Rodrigues at Premier Financial Services International Ltd. London, tel (011) 44 171 629-1734, fax. (011) 44 171 629-1737

Euromoney Seminars is - supported amongst others by the OI - organizing its 2nd Annual Private Banking Conference in Zurich, Marriot Hotel at April 26/27. The central theme is: 'New Strategies for private banking in an increasingly competitive and regulated environment.' For info: tel +44 (0) 870 90 62 600, fax +44 (0) 20 7779 8603 or mail to: registrations@euromenoyplc.com

Barry Engel is finalising the venue plans for the OI Annual Conference, scheduled for this coming autumn. The short list of locations include Amsterdam, Montreal, and Singapore. Please contact him if you have any particular input on these locations, or if you have suggestions as to speakers, topics, or functions. mailto:barry@offshoreinstitute.com

An OI Icelandic Conference is scheduled around September next.

For info: contact Ben Bendelow at mailto:baseltrustjersey@compuserve.com

Publishing Facility on OI Website