And going now to the business of today's house meeting - as you can tell so far in the news - it wasn't very dramatic. Usually, house meetings are headline material, full of political combustion and combat, but today was housekeeping - serious housekeeping, actually. Government and to urgently amend the International Business Companies and the International Financial services Acts to meet European standard. The Prime Minister explain that Belize is trying to avoid being condemned to a blacklist - which would seriously damage the offshore services sector:
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Together we have been trying to work with the European Union to in fact produce the legislation that they require in a form acceptable to them because that is what is necessary in order to get us removed from the blacklist. It is time sensitive. Their next meeting is being held just after I think the middle of this month and that is why we would wish to pass the required legislation in the case of the house today and hopefully the legislation can also get through the Senate next week. We should then be able to go free and clear of this cursed blacklist."
The committee of the whole house had to meet at great length today with the Financial Secretary to modify and adjust the legislation before final reading.
Email
Print