Nassau Institute Loses Charismatic Chief

Tax-News.com, New York

01 July 2002

For a while now, Dr Gilbert N M O Morris of the Bahamas' Nassau Institute has been one of the most prominent voices in the ongoing saga of OECD versus 'offshore'; now Dr Morris has announced that he will be leaving the Institute to concentrate on financial services consultancy. Dr Morris says: 'It (The Separation Agreement) recognizes that the technical work of The Institute on financial services has overlapped to the detriment of the "free market" side of The Institute's mandate. As a consequence, the Board has agreed with Dr. Morris that he and the Institute part ways, and he will spin-off a new entity to deal directly with financial services.

Dr. Morris will head a new non-profit body called The Landfall Centre for Finance and Trade, and will also become the principle in: "Gilbert MORRIS Associates", a private global consultancy.

Commenting, Dr. Morris said: "I am pleased at the work we were able to do at the Nassau Institute (NI). I think members of the Institute would like to push the freemarket side. I think that is good, and in fact needed, as many socialist tendencies are begining to spring forth. I will continue to work under the philosophical presumption of the idea of markets. However, I see a need for more technical work, directly advising governments and business on issues in global finance - particularly international financial regulations".

Dr. Morris who has recently accepted an appointment to the law faculty of St Thomas Law School in Florida, in the Master of Laws programme in International Taxation, has said he will continue to teach. "I am very happy to work with William Byrnes at St. Thomas. I will be designing a new course in "International Financial Regulations and Constitutional Law". The object is to cause regulators, administrators, lawyers, accountants and bankers to consider balancing their approaches to regulation. At the moment we have a tension between enforcement and rights. However, if this continues, it could hamper global finance severly. In cases - from Canada, Bermuda, Australia The Bahamas and recently the House of Lords - courts have been punishing governments for overreaching on financial legislation and regulation. I aim in this course to bring intellectual balance to that tension".

The Landfall Centre will operate from Nassau and will have a website - which is now being designed. "The site will be a comprehensive data-centre for financial services. We will have every relevant treaty or regulation, with case-law analysis, diplomatic strategy and domestic policy consideration laid out. We will carry advanced analysis of the global situation for banking and financial (including insurance), and allied professionals such as lawyers and accountants. The Centre will be membership driven, available to non-Bahamian firms as well and will have US chariable status. Already we have over a dozen financial services firms applying. But we intend to be operational in a month. I think with so many national and international agencies vying for power in this area, there must be a body capable of directing financial services firms through the thickets".

Dr. Morris concluded his press statement by saying: "we are planning at the Landfall Centre a major workshop in the fall 2002 between October and November on the PATRIOT ACT, particularly as it relates to US broker/dealers. Moreover, we have the Second Annual Global Conference International Tax Planning Money Laundering to be held in Miami, Dec. 4-6th 2002, led by Dr. Bob Munro of the University of Florida Law School and St Thomas Law School.

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