Amex International Trust Joins Ranks Of Guernsey's Trust Companies

Robert Lee, Tax-news.com, London

22 September 2000

American Express Bank has joined the ranks of Guernsey's trust companies by setting up Amex International Trust [Guernsey] Ltd (Amex). The operation is Amex's first of its own, having had a presence on the island as a managed trust operation for the past eight years with Ansbacher.

Raymond Hertel, senior director and general manager of fiduciary and insurance services for Amex said: 'Now we are forging out on our own.When we started there was a period of slow growth, but then during the past two or three years things really began to move. We had to decide whether we were going to head out on our own here or go elsewhere.'

Mr Hertel said that one of the deciding factors in developing an independent operation in Guernsey was the outcome of the Edwards Report, the UK's governmental inquiry into the financial regulatory systems of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man: 'The Edwards Report, with its confirmation of Guernsey’s international standing as an offshore centre and the vote of confidence in its regulatory system, coupled with our own examination of regulation in the islands, combined to make the decision that we needed an independent operation here.'

The new Guernsey operation is being designed to emulate the success of the Amex trust company in the Cayman Islands, of which Mr Hertel said: 'Cayman caters for our American clients the length and breadth of the continent. They are at ease with the time zone and the American feel of Cayman.'

The Guernsey operation will primarily be looking after clients in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, and will be focusing on private client trust business. Patrick Hope-Falkner, senior director of fiduciary and insurance services for American Express Bank in London, commented: 'As well as establishing a trust company in a new time zone with the advantages that offers, the Guernsey and Cayman operations provide back-up to each other in the event of technical or some other sort of catastrophe. Grand Cayman has more hurricanes than Guernsey, but you never know.'

The man charged with building up the Guernsey business in line with that in Grand Cayman is new managing director, Jim Trott, who has experience with the Royal Bank of Canada and Barings, and in Asia. He said: 'We have had great support from service providers such as Itex and Unison as well as our former managers, Ansbacher. We are also owe a great vote of thanks to our colleagues from the American Express group. Getting this new operation under way has been a great team effort.'

Talmai Morgan, director of fiduciary services and enforcement at the Financial Services Commission, has welcomed the addition of Amex to Guernsey's list of trust companies: 'This is a further vote of confidence in Guernsey as a leading offshore financial centre,' he said.

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