According to the local Vincentian newspaper, the Amendment Bill to the International Bank Act of 2004 was passed in Parliament on 29th May, 2008

Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of SVG, has said that the new legislation would expedite the registration process of international banks, but would not compromise the regulation of the offshore banking sector.

In 2001, in response to the increased international attention being paid to the operation of international offshore financial centres, SVG's legislation was substantially amended, and an enhanced regulatory structure was put in place. At this time, the government, in its attempt to ensure that the international banking sector was reputable took the strategic decision in 2001 that the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank should have a significant role to play in the supervision of the international banks in SVG, in conjunction with the domestic regulator.

The International Banks Act was amended in May 2002 to provide for the joint supervision of international banks with the ECCB and this development greatly increased the capacity of the regulatory regime. However, in 2005, the ECCB began to withdraw from this role.

The tightening of the regulatory regime for banks resulted in a sharp drop in the number of offshore banks operating in the jurisdiction, from 40 in 2001 to just 7 today. However, Gonsalves is reportedly in no hurry to reverse this trend.

“It is the rushing of the international banks under the previous government that got us into real trouble,” he was quoted as saying by the Vincentian.