KINGSTON, April 7 (JIS) — Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck said the Government was committed to providing the modern legislative framework required to advance Jamaica’s development of a new business architecture, necessary to send “a strong signal to the rest of the world about the country’s seriousness and readiness to be positioned as an international financial and business destination”.

“It is critical that the Government provides the enabling environment to support the country’s thrust to become a top dog on the global, financial, and business landscape,” Chuck said last week in an address to the Jamaica International Financial Services Authority (JIFSA) Seminar at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston. The seminar focused on three pieces of legislation — the Partnership (Limited) Act, the Partnership (General) Act and the International Corporate and Trust Services Providers Act — developed to give the Financial Services Commission the regulatory oversight to license and govern international service providers, in keeping with best practices — which were all passed in the House and Senate in January 2017. A fourth, the International Business Companies Bill, is expected to be tabled this term.

The minister noted that modernising the business legislation would enhance Jamaica’s improving business infrastructure, and that through extensive consultations with stakeholders in the public and private sectors, the laws had been developed to utilise attractive provisions that exist in other reputable, international financial centre jurisdictions.

The partnership legislation contains features not previously existing in Jamaica, including allowing partnerships to elect to have a separate legal personality; facilitating mergers and conversions of partnerships; and facilitating the migration of foreign partnerships into Jamaica. These would create the opportunity for a wide range of sophisticated, international business transactions, the minister noted.

“The enactment of these laws represents a bold declaration of our Government’s intent to provide a modernised legislative infrastructure, supported by a robust regulatory framework to facilitate what we anticipate will be a sophisticated and exciting new international business regime for Jamaica,” Chuck added.

The seminar was held under the theme “Enhancing Jamaica’s Legislative Framework for International Financial Services” and was held as part of an overall strategy by JIFSA to educate local professionals, including attorneys-at-law, accountants, corporate secretaries, business service providers and business owners, about the new laws and the associated business opportunities.