Is the BMI Offshore bank under investigation by the FIU or not? The bank closed unexpectedly yesterday and its staff has vanished while documents have been seized by the authorities. Yet, the FIU says it is not investigating the bank per se.
By A.De Giorgio
The grapevine has been buzzing with news that the BMI Offshore Bank located on Independence Avenue in Victoria has been temporary closed down due to investigations carried out by the Seychelles Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and other law enforcements authorities.
Yet, the director of the FIU, Declan Barber told this newspaper that the BMI “was not under investigation”. He nonetheless revealed that the FIU was carrying what is called “a general inspection”.
Sources tell this newspaper that the FIU together with other law enforcement agencies have seized documents, including computers and laptops from the bank as part of their “inspection” and that the bank’s managing director, Frank Hoareau as well as other staff members were not allowed on the bank’s premises.
A visit to the bank yesterday morning confirmed that it wasn’t business as usual at the BMI Offshore Bank. But this situation seemed to have developed after 10 am yesterday. When TODAY contacted the bank by telephone yesterday morning, we were informed that “the bank was open as usual from 8am to 4:30pm- Monday to Friday”.
Yet, a visit to the bank at 11 am showed that the outlet was in fact closed.
The office had been emptied of its personnel and of its furnishings save for two desks and one lady who was manning the phone. Upon querying about the reasons behind the bank’s closure, we were informed that the bank was “closed due to unforeseen circumstances”. This newspaper was also told that Mr. Hoareau was not around and that no one knew “when he’ll be back.”
Contacted by TODAY, Mr Hoareau was reluctant to confirm the news and said he could not comment on the allegations. He did suggest however that this newspaper speak to the FIU.
The FIU’s Declan Barber told TODAY that “as per procedure, we would visit an institution and collect data whenever we receive an external leak and in this particular case, it just happens to be that the volume of records that are being gathered is larger than usual. This said, neither the bank nor anyone in particular in under investigation.”
Furthermore, Mr. Barber said that the FIU never instructed BMI to close or interrupt their daily activities.
BMI offshore bank (Seychelles) received its license to operate from the Central Bank of Seychelles in March 2008 and since then has been specializing in corporate and private offshore banking services under the leadership of their managing director, Frank Hoareau. The said bank is a joint venture between Bahrain based BMI Bank and the locally incorporated Nouvobanq.
Interestingly, staff of the BMI Offshore Bank and Nouvobanq have for two days this week followed a training programme to learn new skills to better detect and effectively fight off attempts at money laundering.
The training was conducted by an expert in the field, Tariq Ali from Trident Financial and Accounting, an international banking consultant firm based in Bahrain – one of the biggest financial centres in the Middle East.
The training organised jointly by the two banks was aimed at ensuring that staff of the two institutions acquire the necessary anti-money laundering and combating terrorism financing knowledge to perform their day-to-day job effectively while complying with both local and international regulations.
Frank Hoareau
Mr Hoareau joined BMI after leaving Barclays Seychelles.
In his previous role with Barclays, Mr Hoareau led the business through a major expansion that generated unprecedented profits and growth. In 1995, he started the first offshore banking unit in Seychelles, which is now a thriving business, and which contributed significantly to Barclays Bank’s bottom line.
Mr Hoareau is well known in Seychelles’ financial circles and is well acquainted with the workings of the ministry of Finance as well as the Central Bank, where he held a senior position before joining Barclays.
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