BUSINESS BUC By Doug Ashbury Former Attorney General of Bermuda and money laundering legislation expert Saul Froomkin called for the end of bank secrecy laws and "shell'' banks in offshore jurisdictions.

"B banks are a plague upon the international business community,'' he said.

Shell banks have no significant assets or operations and are often set up by fraudulent operators as fronts.

"There are enough bona fide banks in every jurisdiction to fulfil the needs of the honest international businessman,'' he said.

"By permitting these shell banks to operate, governments give these entities a legitimacy which they do not deserve.'' Mr. Froomkin, a senior partner with Mello, Hollis, Jones & Martin, spoke at last week's Shorex conference and exhibition at the Business Design Centre in Islington.

He also said that while there is a legitimate place in international financial centres for major banks, which have branches in such jurisdictions, there is no place for "brass plaque'' banks.

"These banks are permitted in a number of Caribbean and western pacific countries to do anything they wish offshore as long as they do domestic business,'' he said.

"They are rightfully referred to as shell banks since they have no business premises, no employees and usually no legitimate assets.

"When one couples bank secrecy with shell banks, one has a recipe for disaster,'' he said.

"Those of us who have been dealing with this plague for some years, can say unequivocally that virtually every major fraud, every international drug case, and every significant money laundering investigation has an element of bank secrecy jurisdiction, or a shell bank, or both.'' Mr. Froomkin was in London as part of a delegation from Bermuda attending the Shorex conference as well as other events organised to update the business community on recent activities in Bermuda.

Bermuda has no international banks domiciled on the Island and its banking industry is indigenous, represented by the Bank of Bermuda, Bank of Butterfield and Bermuda Commercial Bank.

The Bermuda Government will be tabling in the current legislative session, the Proceeds of Crime Bill, which will legislate policies and procedures relating to money laundering that have been in place in Bermuda for the past decade.