Barbados’s Offshore Attraction Rising

Barbados is not generally considered to be an offshore jurisdiction of much note – rather it is thought of by the majority of us as an attractive Caribbean island perfect for an exotic holiday and famous possibly for personifying the Caribbean spirit.

However, Barbados’s offshore attraction is rising because the Barbadian Prime Minister Owen Seymour Arthur has just revealed his government’s ambitious plans for the recreation and re-branding of Barbados - and part of the government’s National Strategic Plan of Barbados includes the promotion of the offshore attraction of the island nation’s financial services industry.

The government’s National Strategic Plan of Barbados was revealed initially in 2006 but it is only recently that it has been fully ratified and accepted and it is only now that it is being presented to the public and the wider world. 

The plan is an incredibly intricate series of strategies to take Barbados forward successfully to 2025 by which time the nation will be “a fully developed society that is prosperous, socially just and globally competitive” according to Prime Minister Arthur.

A significant part of the plan is focused on the development of Barbados’s offshore finance industry and to that end it has been announced that Barbados is to establish a Financial Services Commission for the complete regulation of the industry and for the protection of all those who choose Barbados as their offshore jurisdiction for banking, for business or for investment.

The government has also been working to reduce taxes since 1998 and today Barbados is considered a low tax jurisdiction in which to operate or with which to work which should encourage greater foreign direct investment in the near term and provide required investment for the development of key infrastructure, communications, transportation links etc., to make Barbados and even more appealing place to do business. 

All of these factors are pointing heavily in the nation’s favour.  In addition, the Barbadian government is keen to comply to international standards for the prevention of money laundering whilst removing regulation for regulation’s sake from the financial services industry.  In a key speech delivered by the Prime Minister to parliament this month he laid out in no uncertain terms his nation’s absolute commitment to increasing the attraction of Barbados as an offshore centre worthy of serious consideration.

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