New Chairman for Vanuatu Offshore Finance Center

Jim Batty of the Equity Investment Group of Companies was recently
elected chairman of the Finance Centre Association of Vanuatu. Mr Batty
takes over from PKF partner Mr Robert Agius, who has served as chairman
for a challenging two years.

Born in 1943, Batty is an Australian citizen and holds an economics
degree from Lakehead University, Ontario, Canada. He has held senior
appointments in the Australian and Northern Territory Governments. Since
1984 he has been in private enterprise and in 1997, in conjunction with
Moore Stephens Chartered Accountants (now PKF), he established the
Equity Investment Group. Batty also serves on the Vanuatu National
Provident Fund board.

Vanuatu’s Offshore Financial Centre was established in 1971. This has
assisted Vanuatu to build a sound financial infrastructure with a high
degree of professional expertise available. It provides around 400 jobs
in clerical and professional fields and plays an important role in
attracting investment in other sectors.

Batty said he was confident that the finance centre industry could
continue to grow and to contribute substantially to the economy,
especially in attracting new investments to Vanuatu.

Other senior positions are: vice chairman David Hudson, long time
resident and senior partner of Hudson and Sugden law firm; secretary
Charles Kleiman, executive director of the Pitco group of companies;
treasurer Michael Flower, managing director of ANZ Bank (Vanuatu)
Limited; and Mark Stafford, partner of BDO Barrett & Partners, is the
member at large of the executive.

The association represents the major employers in the banking, trust
company, insurance and accounting fields and acts as a liaison between
the financial industry and the government.