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ECFH Closing Price as at August 17, 2018: $4.00

Market News

August 20, 2018

Anguilla to launch residency by investment programme

THE VALLEY, Anguilla — The government of Anguilla is to implement a “Residency by Investment” programme as part of its medium-term agenda. It will allow foreign nationals to acquire permanent residency status in Anguilla by making a financial contribution to the island and after proving to be of good health and good character.

The government of the British Overseas Territory is to host an information session on the subject on August 23, 2018, which will show the purpose and benefits of the programme, give a preview of the proposed residency by investment programme, the application process and fees, and its plans for implementation.

In 2014, a claim by promoters of a resort in another British Overseas Territory, the Turks and Caicos Islands, that investors are eligible to apply for a permanent residency certificate and British Overseas Territory Citizen (BOTC) passport, was refuted by the British government.

According to Tom Lawrence, at the Home Office Communications Directorate in London:

Eligibility for British Overseas Territory Citizenship ((BOTC) is governed by the British Nationality Act 1981. Citizenship is granted by the governor of the territory and Overseas Territories are not able to grant BOTC status other than in accordance with that Act.
Residency and other requirements for BOTC status apply, so anyone who has not lived lawfully in the territory for a number of years is unlikely to qualify.
Criteria for the grant of BOTC include residence requirements, a good character requirement and an intention to make the principal home within the relevant territory.
Generally, the residency requirements are for a minimum of five years residence immediately preceding the application, during which total absences must not exceed 450 days with a maximum of 90 days absence in the last year. The applicant must not have been in breach of immigration rules at any time during those five years and the last year of residence must have been free of any immigration control.
BOTCs do not have the right of abode in the UK unless they later become British citizens.

“There is no direct route to BOTC and the investor will have to meet the eligibility requirements as noted,” the TCI governor’s spokesman confirmed at the time.

Article published August 19, 2018 on caribbeannewsnow.com

A Solar Farm Opens in St Lucia

St Lucia now has a 3 megawatt (MW) solar farm that is expected to meet five per cent of the island’s electricity demands.

The facility at La Tourney, Vieux Fort, at the southern end of the island, was officially opened by Former United States President Bill Clinton, St Lucia’s Prime Minister Allen Chastanet, former President Figueres of Costa Rica and the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) last week.

The project is expected to change St Lucia’s energy landscape significantly and provide the impetus for more renewable energy initiatives, particularly in achieving the goal of getting 35 per cent electrical generation from renewal sources by 2020, a government statement said.

Managing Director of the St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC) Trevor Louisy said it’s part of government’s new policy to facilitate the use of renewable energy.

“For the country, the solar farm aligns neatly with the National Energy Transition Strategy that seeks to provide a blueprint for a new energy future for Saint Lucia; an energy future that is focused on developing renewal energy resources and how best to integrate the optimum mix of renewal energies into the national grid, at least cost, without compromising the stability and reliability that we’re accustomed to,” he said.

Approximately 20 million gallons of fuel is used to produce electricity annually. The solar farm is expected to reduce the volume of fuel purchased by about 300,000 gallons annually.

GRUPOTEC, an international firm with extensive, worldwide experience in developing solar plants, undertook the engineering, procurement and construction of the facility. The Rocky Mountain Institute and global energy and engineering advisory firm DNV GL is assisting with project development, bid evaluation and contract negotiations.

The Clinton Climate Initiative, brainchild of President Clinton, provided technical assistance for the project. The foundation has been supporting the Caribbean in other areas such as confronting HIV/AIDS in particular.

Clinton said the responsibility of combatting climate change rests on all countries.

“We live in an interdependent world. Nobody causes climate change alone, nobody is raising the sea levels alone and no one will fix it alone. The same is true of global poverty and of all the rising conflicts. The truth is that the future lies in what I would call inclusive nationalism. Be proud of who you are and where you’re from and what your roots are and still know that diverse groups make better decisions than totally homogenous ones,” he said.

Construction of the solar farm began in November 2017. The facility began feeding the grid in April of 2018. Nearly 15,000 panels will generate approximately seven million units of electricity for the year.

Minister for Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labour, Stephenson King said it was because of the impact of climate change, which has resulted in destructive storms, that successive governments had resolved to “transform the island’s energy sector to achieve greater energy efficiency, decrease dependency on fossil fuels, decrease greenhouse gas emissions and greater indigenous energy penetration to promote social and economic development with minimal harm to the natural environment”.

Article published August 17, 2018 on caribbean360.com

Jamaica Stock Exchange exploring cryptocurrency trading

The Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) has selected Toronto-based fintech company Blockstation to explore the possibility of offering cryptocurrency trading on the local platform.

Consequently, the JSE based in Kingston has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Canadian company, paving the way for further collaboration.

JSE Managing Director Marlene Street Forrest says the service would satisfy considerable investor interest in digital assets.

"We are also proud to be at the forefront of bringing innovation to capital markets," said Street Forrest in a joint statement with Blockstation. "We are very comfortable moving forward based on the training and support provided by Blockstation, and because their trading platform incorporates familiar compliance rules to ensure a fair marketplace," she said.

Efforts at comment from the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), which regulates foreign exchange, electronic payments and mobile money, were unsuccessful up to press time on whether the JSE's ambitions would require its oversight.

BOJ is wary about virtual currencies but has not formalised a policy around the issue to date. In February of this year, the central bank issued a release citing potential benefits from blockchain technology for financial inclusion, but warned that virtual currencies are not legal tender in Jamaica, and that the BOJ up to that point had not authorised any entity to operate a virtual currency platform.

A live workshop on cryptocurrency trading was completed with an initial group of five JSE broker members and representatives of local regulators, according to Blockstation.

Through this agreement, JSE could become one of the first international stock exchanges to deploy an online digital currency and token trading platform. Blockstation said it would include trading, quotes, execution and settlement services in a format that aligns with current regulatory and compliance standards.

"The JSE chose Blockstation's end-to-end, electronic communication network and order management system to facilitate trading, clearing and settlement of blockchain tokens for its broker-dealers and their investing clients," Blockstation said on its website.

The JSE has been searching for a suitable online trading system to meet rising demand for digital asset investing for some time. The exchange announced back in April 2017 that it was exploring blockchain technology and entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding with another entity, Veritaseum LLC.

"It is very important for investors to be able to invest in digital assets through their traditional financial institutions," said Kirk Brown, head trader at brokerage house, Sagicor Investments Jamaica Limited. Brown was quoted in the release as one of the brokers at the workshop.

"It's exciting to be at the cutting edge where digital currency demand meets safe reliable access," he said.

Blockstation provides international stock exchanges and brokers with turnkey solutions for trading, clearing and settlement of Bitcoin and other digital assets. The Canadian company's main software is called Smart ECN (electronic communication network) but it also offers a suite of technology products designed to meet the security, liquidity and regulatory requirements of financial institutions.

Article published August 19, 2018 on jamaica-gleaner.com

U.S. firms warn next China tariffs to cost Americans from cradle to grave

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A broad cross-section of U.S. businesses has a message for the Trump administration: new tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports will force Americans to pay more for items they use throughout their daily lives, from cradles to coffins.

Six days of public hearings on the proposed duties of up to 25 percent will start on Monday in Washington as part of President Donald Trump’s and the U.S. Trade Representative’s efforts to pressure Beijing for sweeping changes to its trade and economic policies.

Unlike previous rounds of U.S. tariffs, which sought to shield consumers by targeting Chinese industrial machinery, electronic components and other intermediate goods, thousands of consumer products could be directly hit with tariffs by late September.

The $200 billion list targets Chinese seafood, furniture and lighting products, tires, chemicals, plastics, bicycles and car seats for babies. (See the complete list here

“USTR’s proposed tariffs on an additional $200 billion of Chinese imports dramatically expands the harm to American consumers, workers, businesses, and the economy,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in written testimony for the hearing.

The top U.S. business lobbying group said the Trump administration lacks a “coherent strategy” to address China’s theft of intellectual property and other harmful trade practices and called for “serious discussions” with Beijing.

Mid-level Trump administration officials and their Chinese counterparts are expected to meet later this week in Washington to discuss their trade dispute. But it is unclear whether the talks will have any effect on the implementation of U.S. tariffs and retaliation by China.

In more than 1,400 written comments submitted to USTR that will be echoed in the hearings, most businesses argued that the tariffs will cause harm and higher costs for products ranging from Halloween costumes and Christmas lights to nuclear fuel inputs, while a small number praised them or asked that they be extended to other products.

Graco Children’s Products Inc, a unit of Newell Brands Inc, said tariffs “will have a direct negative impact on our company, American parents and most importantly the safety of American children.”

The company said higher prices may prompt more parents to buy car seats, swings and portable play yards on the second-hand market.

“The proposed tariffs may force parents to use unsafe sleeping environments or let children dangerously co-sleep with parents,” Graco wrote. The tariff “only causes a children safety issue; it will not convince China to change its policies.”

Evenflo Feeding said the tariffs will hit manual breast pumps “and would cause disproportionate economic harm to U.S. interests.”

At the other end of the life cycle, Centennial Casket Corp President Douglas Chen said his Plano, Texas-based company relies exclusively on Chinese-made caskets and the tariffs would cause “great loss” and raise costs for “grieving families purchasing caskets for their loved ones at one of the worst times of their life.”

The Internet Association, representing companies including Facebook Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc, said the tariffs “would cause disproportionate economic harm to American internet companies. The list includes products that impact how internet companies function.”

Westinghouse Electric Co LLC, the leading U.S. nuclear fuel producer, said it relies on China for zirconium and zirconium powders - key inputs for tubes used in nuclear fuel assemblies that it uses at plants in Utah, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.

There is no U.S. source of zirconium so the tariff would “raise the cost for Westinghouse to manufacture nuclear fuel for U.S. commercial nuclear power plants” and it ultimately “would increase the cost of electricity to a significant percentage of U.S. electricity consumers,” the company said in a filing.

Huffy Corp, the largest U.S. bicycle brand, with 4 million Chinese-made bikes sold annually, said a 25 percent tariff poses a “serious threat to the company.”

Huffy CEO Bill Smith wrote that the tariffs should have been put in place 20 years ago when Huffy and other U.S. bicycle makers sought to increase the 11 percent U.S. bicycle tariff because of aggressive Chinese imports. When this effort failed, Huffy closed three U.S. plants in 1998 and 1999, terminating 2,000 employees and shifting to Chinese bikes.

“This proposed tariff is too little, too late,” Smith wrote, adding that now, a higher tariff would “only create problems” and cost jobs at independent U.S. bicycle dealers.

“There is no other country in Asia or Europe that can provide the volume Huffy requires as China is the largest bicycle producer in the world,” he said.

U.S.-China Business Council President Craig Allen, speaking to reporters in Beijing on Monday, said more tariffs could create “grave economic distortions”, but that Trump had been very clear about the problems in the trade relationship.

“They [Chinese officials] have been given these suggestions in writing. I think that they know very well what is being asked. And let the negotiations proceed,” Allen said, calling for a “surge” in Chinese market opening.

Article published August 20, 2018 on reuters.com