Submission from Mr Alan Savery, Banking
Supervisor, St Helena
1. Further to my submission of 20 August
2007[250]
I would like to update the comments I made at that time. I have
just returned from a visit to St Helena which involved a supervisory
visit to the Bank of St Helena and providing assistance in the
public consultation on the introduction of legislation concerning
money laundering and financial services.
2. In my earlier submission I commented
that some of the Government Officials in St Helena did not have
sufficient grasp of the technical issues. This comment was based
on my experience in dealing with officials since 2001. However,
I feel it right to point out that the changes in personnel in
recent times has led to a dramatic improvement. During this latest
visit I have been able to hold meaningful and very professional
discussions with all the relevant officials.
3. The problems I alluded to concerning
the FCO however, remain and over the last few months it has become
clear to me that the underlying problem arises from the fact that
in dealing with technical issues such as financial services, they
rely on experts in the subject who have no knowledge of the island
and the desk officers who have knowledge of the island do not
have sufficient technical knowledge to be able to put the expert
advice into the proper context. This results in measures being
proposed which are out of proportion to the problem being addressed.
4. If I can be of any further assistance
to your enquiry I would be happy to help.
24 January 2008
250 Ev 71. Back
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