Then there

was success

WESTERN Samoa’s off-shore

banking centre is being judged

a success. It was only in June that the revised legislation was available, and now 120 companies have been listed in Apia with the registrar of foreign companies, Stanley Uren. Most of the companies have come from Europe and Hong Kong, with some interest from the West Coast of the United States. Uren told Pacific Islands Monthly he was satis fied with the way the centre had prog ressed.

Three trust companies are in business.

They are Asiaciti Trust Company Ltd, which also has offices in Port Vila, Hong Kong and Singapore it is trading in Apia under the name Western Samoa International Trust Ltd, the other com panies being European Pacific Trust Company (Western Samoa) Ltd, part of the European Pacific group which is lo cated in the Cook Islands, Luxembourg

and Hong Kong, and Intertrust Incorpo rated Ltd, which has associate companies in Europe and New Zealand.

Four banks have been established.

Three of these are B 2 licences which requires a paid-up capital of U 55250,000 these licences do not allow accepting deposits from the public nor issuing of cheques. There is one registration under the B 1 licence type, with the require ments of a paid-up capital of US$2 mil lion this bank can accept deposits above USSIOO,OOO.

One insurance company has registered under the off-shore legislation. Under the new Western Samoa law (called the International Companies Act) firms are exempt from income and other taxes, there are no currency or exchange con trols and no levies on remittances of funds from Western Samoa. The coun try has no tax treaties.

Uren said the government was discus sing further overseas promotion of the finance centre, with attention likely to be focussed in the Far East, particularly Hong Kong, South Korea and Indone sia. □