DON MITCHELL, CBE, (RETD JUDGE)
OWEN LANE, NORTH HILL
P O BOX 83, THE VALLEY
AI-2640 ANGUILLA, BWI
Landline: (264) 497 2139
Cellphone: (264) 235 8654
Email: idmitch@anguillanet.com
29 March, 2018
His Excellency the Governor
Mr Tim Foy
Government House
Old Ta
Anguilla
(By email)
Your Excellency,
Re:
The Anguilla Financial Services Commission (the FSC)
I note with sadness that I
have not received any acknowledgment of my letter to you delivered at my
meeting with you of 20 February past which I attended together with the other
non-executive members of the FSC Board.
The purpose of the meeting was to draw to your attention a number of
matters of concern regarding the lack of good governance in the government of
Anguilla generally and in the Ministry of Finance in particular, and our resulting
fears for the future of the FSC.
I appreciate (via feedback
from the Chair to whom you spoke) that you did not find the matters appropriate
to be raised by Commission Board members.
I disagree. The Commission’s
functions are set out in law and include the duty to advise the Governor on
matters relating to or connected with financial services business and also in
relation to financial services, companies or any other structure or
arrangements. No financial services
industry can thrive in a jurisdiction lacking an effective, non-corrupt public
service.
The issues around our
meeting aside, the Board is also concerned to have had no return of the
Director’s contract – agreed by you informally by email but not confirmed,
though the contract was sent to you some weeks ago.
The risk of an imminent
departure of the Director is worrying, particularly in the light of Mrs
Hatton’s term of office concluding without your offering to renew it. You have defenestrated the FSC.
I therefore resign from
the Board with immediate effect.
I copy this letter to your
superior at the FCO in the hope that someone will take your failures regarding the
situation with the FSC seriously.
Yours sincerely,
Don Mitchell
cc: Mr Ben Merrick
