As a symbol of hope and change, Barack Obama has a lot of support in Bermuda (which is craving for a good measure of both from our local politicians).
But we must remember that candidate Obama is potentially a major threat to Bermuda.
Bermuda has made huge investments to meet international standards for regulation and transparency in its business sector, and those efforts have been recognised by entities such as the OCED and the IMF.
However, in the US, which is searching for both scapegoats and revenue, Senator Obama has co-sponsored a Bill titled the ‘Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act’ introduced by Senator Carl Levin.
As well as providing a statutory framework to define ‘offshore secrecy jurisdictions’, the Bill includes a list of 34 countries which will be automatically considered as tax havens and targeted by the US Government.
That list includes most of the “business” Caribbean islands, as well as Bermuda.
Just remember that.