Quick! Which St. Lucian financial services company is the agent for the first and only offshore bank currently registered in the island?
If you said FINCOS Financial & Corporate Services, one of St. Lucia’s new breed of service businesses dedicated to the financial investment needs of non-St. Lucian nationals exclusively, you’d be right. And at the helm of FINCOS stands Natalie Augustin, a barrister,solicitor and notary Royal who also holds a BA International Studies and German.
Sure, having registered Bank Crozier (St. Lucia’s first offshore bank) is a nice feather, but Natalie acknowledges that with the St. Lucia offshore industry in its developmental infancy, there are many firsts to come. But it’s not bad for a lawver who found it difficult to obtain work in her field when she first came to St. Lucia in 1996 and ended up as an advertising manager at a local radio station. Eventually, though, she landed her first law job with Kenneth Foster. But after this and a couple stints with other legal companies, March 2000 saw Natalie establish the her own law firm of Glitzenhirn Augustin & Co., and FINCOS.
To many local legal eagles, the offshore sector has become a exciting career progression. But this fervour must be tempered with prudent caution and control.
Natalie explains: “St. Lucia is probably the newest jurisdiction in the world. The world’s eye is on us. Certain countries have been pinpointed as tax havens with unfair tax practices… So we’re battling from day-1 not to be blacklisted (and) we must ensure that all money laundering legislation is in place.” But that’s where being a newcomer to the offshore industry is an advantage. “While other jurisdictions have had to redraft (legislation) to get things in order,” continues Natalie, “we’ve started out in order, having learnt from the experience of others.”
St. Lucia’s newness to the industry is also reflected in the relatively slow influx of investors. But Natalie isn’t too concerned: “Some jurisdictions have taken 10 or more years to develop and considering we’re only a year old, St. Lucia’s not doing too badly.”
Personally, Natalie is attracted to the offshore sector because it opens up new avenues to aspects of financial business that, as a lawyer, she might not get into. She’s been able to focus on insurance, banking, structures, trusts, mutual funds and other areas.
“Prior to offshore, these were things I studied but never got a chance to put into practice,” says Natalie. “It’s also let me learn a lot of new things and meet many likeminded people as I go to conferences and do further studies that most lawyers who practise don’t do.”
These experiences have helped her develop the business at her own pace. “So far,” she says, “I’ve managed to operate FINCOS almost as a one-woman operation.
But I’d like to offer more proficient services to my clients. We have the facilities (in St. Lucia) to offer conferences and soon I’d like to send assistants to be trained.”
Natalie also applauds the legislation that allows foreigners trained in the industry to work here. This, she believes, will have an immediate benefit to the economy through home and car rentals and day-to-day living expenses, as well as the more long-term, trickle-down effect of locals learning and inheriting the ways of the offshore business.
It is this wholehearted dedication to the industry that Natalie foresees will be the hallmark of St. Lucia offshore: “In time there’ll be an association of St. Lucia (financial services) businesses that will benefit the industry as a whole. We work together to set fees and charges which will bring a greater sense of professionalism to our jurisdiction and make us an even more appealing destination… We’ll be able to set standards for the kinds of clients we want to attract and the kinds we don’t “
And with her philosophy that St. Lucia’s offshore success lies in “everyone working towards a common goal, including other sectors of the finance industry,” Natalie Augustin is the surest sign of a sound offshore industry that’s here to stay.
Wayne Lee-Sing