Minister of Labour Vincent Wheatley gave that confirmation in a recent interview with BVI News.

“I haven’t seen the report [yet but] yes, that is a fact. I can’t give you the numbers or anything like that, or who they were. But I spoke with them on the phone and they say they were doing a restructuring … I heard that they’re laying off,” Minister Wheatley told our news centre.

BVI News then reached out to the financial services provider with questions about the number of persons that have been impacted by the staff cuts.

Harneys BVI did not give a direct answer to any of those questions. It indicated in a blanket statement to our news centre that the firm does not comment on employment matters for confidentiality reasons.

The company, however, confirmed that they were taking measures to safeguard the local firm.

“Like the majority of organisations across the globe, Harneys has been affected by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we have implemented several measures to ensure economic resilience,” the statement read.

Harneys is among the companies that is currently benefiting from government’s Financial Services (Exceptional Circumstances) Order that has created ‘special measures’ to temporarily facilitate the conduct of financial services business in and from within the territory. That order came into effect on March 30 this year.

As the Minister of Finance, Premier Andrew Fahie has declared the COVID-19 pandemic to be ‘an exceptional circumstance.