Curtis Dickinson has a blunt message for those who plan to use Bermuda as a place to hide nefarious financial activities.

“We will rat you out, plain and simple as that, because our reputation is a critical part of our calling card, and unless we can demonstrate how serious we are about this, then people will not take us seriously,” the finance minister told the Financial Post, a Canadian newspaper.

The interview was about Bermuda's efforts to nurture the growth of a fintech industry.

Mr Dickinson was in Toronto to lead a Bermuda delegation at a forum staged by the Bermuda Business Development Agency and in an effort to drum up new business between Bermuda and Canada.

Mr Dickinson added: “We're not asking Canadian companies to pull up roots and move from Canada to Bermuda. But inasmuch as you have an international business that needs an offshore presence, we would argue that Bermuda is a great place to put it.”

The Financial Post also quoted Denis Pitcher, the Government's fintech adviser, on the fact that only one company so far has won approval for a digital asset business licence.

“We're not in any rush, because we don't need quantity, we want quality businesses,” Mr Pitcher said.