May 18 - Fiduciary And Isolas Issue Statement To Clarify And Correct GSD’s “Inaccuracies”
The local law firm Isolas and the Fiduciary Group have issued a joint statement following the recent political exchanges in relation to a Bahamian company called Artnell Associates Limited which was linked by the ‘Panama Papers’ to the Minister for Financial Services and Gaming, Albert Isola.
The statement explains that, in addition to being a Government Minister, Albert Isola is a non-practicing partner of law firm Isolas and a member of the family that owns the Fiduciary Group of Companies. The Fiduciary Group of Companies is the Trust and Company Management business associated with Isolas, the law firm.
The statement continues to expand on the structure and extent of Mr Isola’s professional involvement “in order to clarify and correct the factual inaccuracies that are contained in statements issued by the Opposition party, and thus to protect Fiduciary, and by association with it Isolas and its partners, from the possibility of unwarranted damage to their reputations from incorrect statement.”
The statement, released this evening, continues: “The Fiduciary Group of Companies consists of several companies, including Artnell Associates Limited, through which the group offers professional services to its external clients and those of Isolas, the law firm. As part of the Fiduciary Group, Artnell is thus owned (as a subsidiary) by the Fiduciary Group’s holding company.
“No member of the extended Isola family (including Albert Isola) own any shares in Artnell Associates Limited. Mr Albert Isola and his family, like his siblings and their families, have an ownership interest only in the Fiduciary Group’s holding company.
“We understand that Mr Albert Isola has properly and fully declared that interest in his Parliamentary Declaration of Members’ Interests. We can confirm that he has no declarable interest in Artnell Associates Limited or any other member of the Fiduciary Group of Companies except the Group’s holding company.
“Furthermore, for the avoidance of more, speculative doubt, as a provider of professional facilities to clients, Artnell Associates Limited has never had any assets, and in any event has been effectively inactive for some time.”
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