Note from the editor: The Government and the people of St. Lucia extend their sincere condolence to the American people and to all people who were affected by the recent events in New York and Washington. May justice and democracy prevail.

Tax concession: Amendment to the Income Tax Act 1989 Instrument No. 9 of 2001 has been Gazetted. The amendment seeks amongst other things to provide incentives for service providers licensed as registered agents or trustees (trust companies) and other professionals providing services to the International Financial Services sector. The 10 years of tax breaks for registered agents income are as follows: First 4 years 100%, next 3 years 75%, next 3 years 50%. Other qualifying professional services get foreign currency tax credits with maximum effective relief of 95%. Please click here to view related article.

LLC Legislation: The Government of St. Lucia has drafted a new piece of legislation for Limited Liability Companies. This should be passed in early 2002 and will be modeled on the most accepted legislation of its type to date.

Other Amendments: Draft amendments to the International Trust Act, the International Mutual Fund Act, and the IBC Act have been prepared and are expected to be passed before the end of the year. These amendments will allow greater flexibility & ease of administration of the various entities.

Online Registry: Users guides in PDF format are now available to Clients, and Overseas Agents. Those guides explain step by step how to use the system showing the different screens of the application. Please click on the hyperlinks to download the appropriate version.

Insurance companies: There are now 7 international insurance companies licensed in St. Lucia, and 2 applications have been sent to the regulatory department for approval.

Foreign Language Characters: It is now possible to have the name of the company on the certificates in non english characters. These names will be enclosed in parentheses and placed below the registered name which by law must be in the English language.

St. Lucia's Offshore Institute Chapter: The St. Lucia Chapter of the Offshore Institute was officially launched on Friday August 24th 2001 in St. Lucia. The launch was attended by all stake holders in the industry including the government, the regulators, the service providers, the president of the Offshore Institute Mr. Lohman and the industry promoters. The St. Lucia Chapter has seventeen members. There is a four person executive committee that manages the Chapter. Mr. Lohman saw the launch of the St.Lucia Chapter as an important first step in establishing a Caribbean Chair that would represent the interests of the region in international fora. The full speeches are available on the Pinnacle site in the news section.

The St. Lucia International Financial Services Association (SLIFSA): The local registered agents and other professionals established the St. Lucia International Financial Services Association last month. The objectives of the association are to ensure representation of industry stakeholders, provide training and education for members, to co-ordinate marketing of the jurisdiction and to attend to any other matters relevant to the development of the industry here in St. Lucia.

Conferences upcoming: The jurisdiction will be represented at the following events:

• October: Mr. Anthony Bristol, Deputy Managing Director of the Financial Centre Corporation will make a presentation at the IBC USA Trust Summit.
  

• November: Pinnacle St. Lucia in joint venture with Corpaq Services USA Inc. will sponsor a cocktail reception at the ITPA conference in Miami. Members from the SLIFSA will attend the Offshore Institute conference in Montreal.
  

• December: FCC will attend the STEP conference in London.

Promotional trips: a trip to Europe is planned for November, and early next year to the Far East.

Publications: a special focus on St. Lucia's international financial centre has been published in the Offshore Finance Canada magazine in the September/October issue. The Risk and Insurance publication is writing an article on St. Lucia as a new domicile for captive insurance. This should be published in the next issue.

St. Lucia's Celebrity Golf Tournament: Pinnacle St. Lucia was a gold sponsor for the St. Lucia's Celebrety Golf Tournament in July this year. Thsi charity event raised EC$100,000 for the St. Lucia Youth Empowerment programme, and supported the children of St. Lucia with a donation to the Child Developmental and Guidance Centre.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to send them to enquiries@pinnaclestlucia.com

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