Ashcroft denies Belize Bank is for sale

Speaking of that financial institution, Monday’s edition of the British newspaper “The Guardian” has breathlessly reported that Michael Ashcroft, the controversial Anglo-Belizean billionaire recently appointed to the House of Lords, is about to sell the Belize Bank. The newspaper’s sole evidence of the impending sale is a line from the most recent financial report of Carlisle Holdings, the publicly traded company controlled by Ashcroft, which owns the bank as well as much larger interests in building maintenance and security. The report states that “the financial services business is non-core and a candidate for disposal at some future date.” While the bank, which is Carlisle’s most profitable subsidiary, may one day change hands, Lord Ashcroft is emphatic that it won’t be any time soon. Speaking through a spokesman Ashcroft told News 5: “The Belize Bank is not up or sale. Period.” The Guardian, a strong supporter of Britain’s ruling Labour Party, has been a long-time critic of Lord Ashcroft, who until recently served as treasurer of the opposition Conservative Party and remains one of its strongest financial contributors. The Labour government has threatened to withhold thirteen point seven million pounds in debt relief if Belize does not reform its tax laws. Those laws, according to International Development Secretary Clare Short, provide too many breaks for companies controlled by Lord Ashcroft.