On August 12 of this year, the Government of the Virgin Islands engaged the services of global management consultants - McKinsey & Company – to undertake a Financial Services Management Consultancy. This engagement is to help chart a new direction in the BVI financial services industry, and was as a result of financial services stakeholder meetings held early on in my administration.

From August 12 until mid-November, the project team consulted with several committees made up of public sector representatives, a wide cross section of domestic private sector practitioners and other BVI international practitioners in Latin America, Europe and Asia. The consultancy was undertaken in three phases, including a review of other work previously undertaken by the Government of the Virgin Islands. 

The review is now in its final stages of completion, with concrete recommendations for a strategic vision for the industry and plans to sustainably build the sector. We are currently at the stage of considering the recommendations of the consultants and believe it is a good time to share the preliminary results with our key stakeholders.

The importance of our financial services industry cannot be underscored. In this regard, the Government of the day and the Opposition of the day have always worked together to ensure this sectors remains sustainable and prosperous. We are proud of this achievement and are committed to continuing this practice. Today we invited the members of the Opposition to a special informal meeting of the House of Assembly to share the preliminary findings.

We recognise that the wider public plays a critical role in the success of this industry. I am therefore inviting the entire BVI community to tune in to a live edition of Public Eye. This will be aired tonight on CBN Channel 51 and ZBVI 780 AM at 7:00p.m., where some of the preliminary findings, along with Government’s other work in the industry will be discussed. I invite the public to tune in and call-in with their questions about the financial services sector.

In the coming weeks we will be finalising the recommendations of the report, taking into consideration the feedback from all stakeholders. At the appropriate time, a copy of the final report will be made available.

Building a thriving and sustainable financial services sector is critical to building a better Virgin Islands. My Government looks forward to the support of the community as we work together to secure our future.

Thank you.