It comes as no surprise that Moody’s Investors Service has slashed its rating of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) from AAA to AA1.

Antigua & Barbuda’s application for entry onto the UK’s extremely valuable White List was rejected in 2007.

Following the collapse of the Stanford Empire, a desperate plea for help to the IMF, and the more recent implosion of the Antigua Barbuda Investment Bank, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda has now had to return once again, cap in hand, to one of the most powerful and quietly influential nations on Earth.

Although the former Pirates of the Caribbean have been romanticized over time, the reality is that they were gangs of unscrupulous, relentless and merciless thieves.

As regulators in the Caribbean and Latin America scramble to cope with the shock announcements that powerful United States Authorities are investigating a significant financial institution with a major presence in the region, are they fit for purpose?

It is extraordinary that, even in these times of international pretence and overlooking of deception in the interest of political correctness, the Government of the United States of America perseveres in ignoring the behaviour of one of its smallest and perhaps most determined enemies: the sovereign island nation of Antigua and Barbuda.

"The Secretary of the Treasury should direct the United States Executive Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association (commonly known as the "World Bank'') and the International Monetary Fund to use the voice and vote of the United States to ensure that any future loan made by the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund to the Government of Antigua and Barbuda is conditioned on providing complete redress of the matters

Can a State successfully overcome the public relations nightmare following a disastrous decision to expropriate the private property and business of international investors?

According to the CAFT/GAFIC Antigua & Barbuda Ministerial Report dated 23 June 2008 on Mutual Evaluation / Detailed Assessment Report on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism, the Attorney General is the individual charged with the responsibility for coordinating requests from overseas regulators and enforcement agencies.

When Verity (not her real name) retired she had simple dreams of living in the sun, caring for animals and putting something back into society.

Once a rabid dog tastes blood, it is only a short matter of time before it bites again. The initial victim of expropriation was the flagship Half Moon Bay Resort, located on what the Travel Magazine consistently lists as one of the top four beaches in the world, developed and owned by US investors for over thirty five years.