On 6th October 1998, in the interests of 'freedom of information' AABA decided that the public shoould see the draft Edwards Report. The report into the financial regulations in the Channel Islands was commissioned by the UK Home Office in January 1998. the government had no intention of publishing it. All that the Ministers would say was that a 'summary' may be published. Meanwhile, the report was freely available to various cronies and PR organisations (e.g. Shandwicks and Bell Pottinger) who were lobbying the government to dilute the way to reforms. We are opposed to the continuation of off-shore havens as fiddle factories and funny-money places and took a decision that the public debate would be enhanced by making the draft report freely available. The leaking of the draft report was extensively reported in The Guardian, Sunday Business, Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph, radio and televsion programmes. This generated pressures on the Home Office to finally publish the Edwards Report.