After two years and ten months, in the post of Director of the Financial Services Commission, Mr. Niguel Streete is to leave Anguilla on December 22 at the end of his contract which was originally for two years. He will be joining his family who preceded him in August to Grenada, his homeland, to seek early registration in school for his two children.

Mr. Niguel Streete

Mr. Streete stayed on in Anguilla for an additional ten months at the request of the then Governor, and the Financial Services Commission Board, due to a number of important matters related to the development of the sector. He was of the view that the stakeholders (the Governor, Executive Council and the Board) to whom he is responsible for the regulation of the sector, appreciated the work of the Commission and his contribution.

He hoped that his contribution was also appreciated by the private sector as it was extremely important that it recognised the significance of regulation, and that there was a partnership between the Commission and the sector as both had an interest in the safety and stability of the financial services.

Mr. Streete was asked what he thought were some of his accomplishments. “We have been able to make some legislative changes,” he recalled. “We introduced a number of new pieces of legislation. To name a few, we now have a Foundations Act which allows us to establish foundations in Anguilla; the much-talked-about Proceeds of Crime Act which was recently passed; the Money Services Bill which brought under the regulatory supervision of the Financial Services Commission a number of institutions such as Money Gram, Western Union and Yellow Banana. There is a Payment System Act which was spearheaded by the ECCB and which came into being recently; and we also have a number of pieces of legislation we are working on. We are planning to introduce an International Insurance Act which will deal with the regulation of international insurance business –captives and foreign insurers. That will result in us having two Insurance Acts: a domestic Act and an international insurance one…early in the New Year. We also made amendments to the Financial Services Commission Act.”

The outgoing Director stated that the Commission had grown significantly. Technical staff had been increased by 50% - that’s from four to six, and there were plans for further significant increases in the New Year. He pointed out that the Michael Foot Report, which called for more human resources to regulate the financial sector, had added impetus to the need for additional staffing as plans for that were already in place by the Commission Board.

Mr. Streete stressed that the international financial services industry was in Anguilla to stay. He noted, however, that over the next five or ten years there would be a need for change to respond to some of the global challenges facing Anguilla as a jurisdiction. He sought to clarify the issue that while the Michael Foot Report. and other persons, had assumed that there was a need for separation of the regulation of the financial services from marketing both were in fact operating separately. “The Commission doesn’t do marketing and we have drawn the line on that for sometime now,” he emphasised. “I think what has created some difficulty is that we have provided some technical support to the Registry on some of its promotional trips when we went along as consultants to discuss the financial regulatory infrastructure in Anguilla…I think that has clouded the issue a bit and we recognised that and are now looking at a policy decision to even remove ourselves further from marketing.” He observed that in a small jurisdiction like Anguilla, with limited resources both in terms of personnel and finances, there was a need to see how best to capitalise on what was available, but it was important to be mindful of the appearance.
Mr. Streete was asked how he saw international finances involving as a second industry to tourism. He believed it was durable but there was need for attention. He pointed to the fact that while there was a statutory body to market the tourism industry with other marketing arrangements and a sizeable budget for promotion, as well as training of staff by the hotels, it was quite different from the marketing budget and other promotional means of the financial services. “If we are going to market and develop the financial services as a second industry in line with tourism, the same things have to happen,” he stated. “We have to develop a financial industry master plan with at least a ten-year strategy…We have to look at the curriculum of students, the training and exposure they get. We have to put in the necessary infrastructure and money and attract credible international firms; so there is a lot of other work to be done at the front end if we are going to develop financial services to where the tourism is.”

He said he had tremendously enjoyed his stay and service in Anguilla. Prior to coming here he spent thirteen and a half years with the ECCB as a Director of Bank Supervision involved in banks and securities regulation. “In coming to Anguilla I got involved with every type of financial regulation so the scope is a lot wider … with a wide range of institutions and exposure,” he reflected. “I think I have grown from the experience and benefitted tremendously. Not only have I been able to make a contribution to Anguilla but I think Anguilla has made a significant contribution to me.” He disclosed that he would remain in the financial services industry and was looking at options both in regulation and on the practitioner side. He said Grenada was his home and he would see what was available there as he had given a commitment to his family to spend at least the next five years there.

Mr. Streete said his Deputy Director, Eleanor Astaphan, had given a commitment to take over the stewardship of the Commission from him. He described her as an accomplished regulator having been the head of the Regulatory Authority in Dominica for a number of years. “She has done a tremendous job in improving the work of the regulation in Anguilla. She is quite a resource to me and I recommend her highly for the position. I have no doubt that she will do an exceptional job at the helm of the Commission,” he added.

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