Today I will not dwell on the issues of how we got into our present state, the logic, fairness or lack thereof in the negotiating stance, or the opportunity we missed to be the leader of the pack rather than the laughing stock of the pack. Neither shall I attempt to find the rationale behind capitulating so dramatically and hastily. Rather, I will draw on the end results of those negotiations and the enacted legislation in order to highlight where we have placed ourselves as a competitively disadvantaged jurisdiction and the difficult task ahead of making lemonade out of the lemons we have been given.
Without a doubt we can certainly boast of having the framework for a well-regulated financial services sector, one possibly unparalleled in either the developed or developing countries. As you may be aware, it is now easier and simpler to open a bank account and make deposits in New York, Toronto and London than it is to open an account or make deposits in Nassau. We are well ahead of
