Amazingly, Bermuda lacks anti-corruption legislation. Any public pressure for it is inevitably met with a scoff and the “Plantation shutdown” from the powers that be.
With the constant circus of allegations and murky affairs, Bermuda needs anti-corruption legislation for its local sector.
But we also apparently need it for our international sector. You know, if we really want to the The Gold Standard™.
The US has solid anti-corruption regimes – that include both the public and corporate sectors – and under the Obama administration seems to be stepping up enforcement. The Financial Times reports:
US companies account for 64 out of 93 cases being pursued by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission — Britain, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands are in second, third and fourth places…
Bruce Yannett, partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, the US law firm, told the FT that while there were a number of factors behind the large number of British-linked probes in the US, one was Washington’s unhappiness with London’s performance on tackling bribery. “If the US authorities feel there is weak enforcement, they will play the role of policeman”
The US data raises further questions about the role of corruption conduits played by leading offshore financial centres, many of which are British overseas territories or dependencies.
Helen Garlick, former head of the Serious Fraud Office’s anti-corruption unit and a consultant at Nardello & Co, a private investigator, told the FT that Britain’s dependencies tended “to be the place where so much dirty money ends up. Any forceful overseas corruption investigation is bound to end up there sooner or later“.
This is not a list we want to be on. So, are we serious about reform?
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