UK can visit, we have nothing to hide
Junior Minister for Financial Services, Lorna Smith, has made it clear that the territory has “nothing to hide” ahead of the upcoming fact-finding visit by UK MP and anti-corruption champion, Baroness Margaret Hodge.
The United Kingdom dispatched Hodge to the BVI amid concerns about reported delays by the territory to introduce adequate measures aimed at tackling financial crime.
“We welcome her visit because we have nothing to hide,” Smith said. “Baroness Hodge is coming to the BVI on a fact-finding mission, and as the Guardian reported, ‘we will consider further the steps to take in light of the findings.’ This is an important opportunity for her to see the truth for herself.”
Smith stressed that the focus should not be on who invited Baroness Hodge to the territory.
“What she will see is what we show her — or what we would have shown her had we not gone through the vote of no confidence. A country divided? Perhaps hoping for another Order In Council? Is that really what we want her to see?”
Acknowledging the challenges ahead, Smith said local officials are not hoping to change Hodge’s mind, but are looking forward to showcasing the offerings of the BVI’s financial services industry.
Health Minister Vincent Wheatley echoed Smith’s sentiment, saying, “I’m glad Baroness Hodge is coming. I don’t know what she’s been told, but she will be able to see for herself and get a better understanding. We may not change her mind, but if she has a conscience, it might soften a little bit.”
The visit comes amid heightened tensions between the UK and the BVI over calls for publicly accessible registers of company ownership, which would make it easy for people to identify the wealthy individuals who do business with the BVI.
The UK continues to push for greater transparency to combat financial crime both within its borders and satellite territories, but BVI officials maintain that such a move would violate the rights of clients and negatively impact the territory’s reputation as a premier global financial centre.
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You do have a lot to hide (Bank of….)
Only thing we hiding is who authorize the 5M to be deposited at bank of Asia.
You’re hiding our $5 million!!!!!!!!! Answer our questions! Th**f!
If you have nothing to hide then tell us who authorized the 5M and why was it put into a failing bank that you were the chairman of. Answer that!
Honourable Smith, with respect, you’ve missed the mark, not in tone, but in substance. It is not the vote of no confidence that divides us. It is the unresolved substance of that motion, the allegations, the governance failures, the erosion of public trust that continue to do so. Your continued efforts to recast dissent as disloyalty and to slay the messenger rather than confront the message only deepen the fracture. Baroness Hodge’s visit is not a theatrical moment to curate optics. It is a reckoning. And what she must see is not what we choose to show her, but what we have failed to show ourselves, the gaps in transparency, the delays in reform, the resistance to accountability. If we truly have “nothing to hide,” then let us stop hiding behind rhetorical sleight-of-hand. Let us confront the substantive concerns raised in the motion of no confidence, concerns that remain unanswered, unaddressed, and unresolved.
The first step toward healing division is not performance. It is principle. Begin there.
The i’s done dotted, the t’s done crossed, the shredders done shut down, and all traces are out there some where, perhaps in Asia, Geneva and other far away and secret holes.
With all that is perceived to be going on financially since the dirst day of this government, it is now a surity that these our homelands and government coffers have become bank accounts for the elected.
If there is nothing to hide how can it be that the you or the Minister for Finance or the Premier do not know who authorised $5Million of the VI publics money to be put into a bankrupt bank that you Lorna just so happened to be a Dircetor of and a colleague and associate of the Chairman.
Let’s hope the police are already asking you these questions because normally when things go missing it is usually a burglary a robbery, fraud or a theft. Has no one reported this matter to the police?
Dear Police, please read the news.
Perhaps the Dame will call them before she leaves.
Imagine the voting public at large is responsible for this lady being in government right now.
Not one benefit has been derived or any new initiatives on the horizon to push this country forward.
Already cost the gov $5M in the first year.
“voting has consequences”
“What she will see is what we show her — or what we would have shown her had we not gone through the vote of no confidence. A country divided? Perhaps hoping for another Order In Council? Is that really what we want her to see?”
This is a very loaded statement. Read it well. Reflect on it.
Health Minister Vincent Wheatley echoed Smith’s sentiment, saying, “I’m glad Baroness Hodge is coming. I don’t know what she’s been told, but she will be able to see for herself and get a better understanding. We may not change her mind, but if she has a conscience, it might soften a little bit.”
I wonder if the Government members realise that the less they say, the better it may be for them. Baroness Hodge is a specialist in the area. She may see more than you expect her to see, and analyze situations differently too.
“The UK continues to push for greater transparency to combat financial crime both within its borders and satellite territories, but BVI officials maintain that such a move would violate the rights of clients and negatively impact the territory’s reputation as a premier global financial centre.”
All we ask for is a bit of bureaucratic adeptness and transparency.
Head Coach said the same thing and where is he now? behind bars!!!
Hope someone points out to Baroness Hodge that the royal mess at Hodge’s Creek has been ongoing for a year festival is history but no sign of work resuming because its not urgent that we resolve this mess and grant the motoring public and visitors some type of regard or respect. Sad to say but BVI is at the lowest level that I have seen in my lifetime.