FAC publishes Report on BVI and other British Overseas Territories

On July 6, 2008, a report on the British Overseas Territories was published by Britain’s Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC).

The FAC was appointed by the House of Commons in order to examine the administration, expenditure and policy of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and its associated agencies.

The main conclusions and recommendations outlined in the report regarded such aspects as Constitutional relationship, Governance, Consultation and representation, Rule of Law, Human Rights, Environmental governance, Contingent liabilities, Illegal immigration, Regulation of civil aviation as well as HMG’s overall approach to the Overseas Territories.

Tha main message from the Chairman of the Committee, Mike Gapes MP addressed to the BVI can be characterized by the following his quotation: “We recommend that the FCO should encourage Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and Gibraltar to continue to make progress in improving financial regulation, in particular in arrangements for investigating money laundering.”

Regarding the situation in fighting money laundering in other UK dependencies, British MP and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Mike Gapes was more strict: “We are concerned by the National Audit Office’s finding that the FCO has been complacent in managing the risk of money laundering in Anguilla, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands”.