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The new global climate of free enterprise has brought with it a proliferation of offshore financial centers that presumably have important roles to play in the emergent global economy. The air of secrecy that appears to pervade the activities of offshore financial centers may well slant or obscure any real understanding of the functions of such centers. The authors investigate the role of major international accounting firms and their services in the processes of business facilitation in the locations that host these centers. By focusing the investigation upon the role of the accounting firms in offshore financial centers, the authors gain a better grasp of the real or potential impacts of the firms in the global economy and in the jurisdictions that host them. Not only do the authors provide a detailed assessment of what the major accounting firms are actually doing in the centers, but they point out what attributes are needed by jurisdictions hoping to succeed as offshore financial centers. The centers included are Antigua, Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Singapore, and Vanuatu.The authors describe the legal and institutional environments facing business operations in general and the accounting firms in particular in offshore financial centers. By studying these operations, it should show what they are doing in terms of facilitating the international activities that flow through such centers. It should also add to the understanding of the potential that offshore activities have as vehicles for development in small emerging economies. This study should be of interest to a wide range of business disciplines, as well as governmental agencies in advanced and emerging nations, international agencies such as regional development banks, and accountants and the international financial community.
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Offshore Financial Centers, Accounting Services and the Global Economy David L. McKee, Don E. Garner and Yosra AbuAmara McKee QUORUM BOOKS Westport, Connecticut • London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McKee, David L. Offshore financial centers, accounting services and the global economy / David L. McKee, Don E. Garner and Yosra AbuAmara McKee. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1–56720–310–8 (alk. paper) 1. International business enterprises—Accounting. 2. International finance. I. Garner, Don E. II. McKee,Yosra AbuAmara, 1948– III. Title. HF5686.I56M384 2000 657'.8333—dc21 99–059832 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright 2000 by David L. McKee, Don E. Garner and Yosra AbuAmara McKee All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99–059832 ISBN: 1–56720–310–8 First published in 2000 Quorum Books, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.quorumbooks.com Printed in the United States of America TM The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Acknowledgments Introduction vii ix I. The General Frame of Reference 1 1. The Role of Offshore Financial Centers 3 2. The Centers, International Services and the Accounting Firms 15 Offshore Financial Centers and the Accounting Firms in a Global Perspective 27 Offshore Financial Centers and the Major Accounting Firms in Regional Contexts 39 The Firms in Selected Caribbean and North Atla