Senators on Offshore Financial Services

Khalid Belisle

On Friday, the Senate also debated the Income and Business Tax amendment bill 2021 which seeks to reposition Belize as an appealing option for the offshore financial sector. With many of the registered companies in the international financial services having pulled out of Belize, the government wants to create an attractive business climate. Here’s more from the Senate’s proceedings on Friday.

Khalid Belisle, U.D.P. Senator

“The truth of the matter is that our side really doesn’t have any qualms or misgivings about the proposed amendment bill. As noted by the Honorable Prime Minister in his introduction in the House, the IFS Sector, the International Financial Services sector, here in Belize has indisputably been in decline for roughly the last half decade or so and that is across our local license service providers, new incorporation by companies as well as the annual license renewals by said companies. Having lost almost two thirds of its peak registered population, what the Honorable Prime Minister described as migration might more aptly be put as a mass exodus, with of two out of every three companies that had been registered at its peak now having pulled out of Belize. In speaking with players across the country, players in this industry, the consensus seems to be that it is a combination of new regulatory requirements imposed by international bodies such as the EU in tandem with more attractive terms present in territories that offer the same services.  It is clear that the amendments as proposed are indeed necessary. The government seeks to regain Belize’s foothold in this sector and we on this side would certainly implore it to continue pushing measures that would not only achieve a leveling of but consequently see the return of a growing and very robust sector in the country of Belize.”

Chris Coye

Chris Coye, P.U.P. Senator

“In effect, we no longer have an offshore sector; we have a hybrid or it is we now have an onshore sector that connects to international business and international persons. This is where we have to look at where we conduct business and how we develop our laws with respect to concerns over requirements or obligations put on us by these outside parties that is a concern that we seek to ensure that we address as we look forward to the development of this sector.”