Future Bright For Jersey's Finance Industry, Says Frank Walker

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

19 February 2003

Speaking to the Jersey Evening Post as part of the newspaper's News Focus Special series on the Island's finance industry, Policy and Resources president, Senator Frank Walker predicted that the future is bright for Jersey's finance centre, with many of the obstacles which previously faced the jurisdiction now having been surmounted.

'Change is the nature of the industry - it always has been and always will be,' he explained, although he stressed that government must not rest on its laurels and expect the finance industry to do all the work.

'We must be prepared to embrace new thinking,' he told the newspaper, citing the ongoing revision of Jersey's tax system, and the numerous regulatory developments over the past few years as an indication that the jurisdiction is moving with the times.

In terms of information exchange, according to Senator Walker, the Island may in fact be ahead of the pack in many instances. However, he observed that in the wake of September 11, information exchange is now a fact of international business life.

'If we don't comply, serious questions will be asked of us,' he told the JEP, adding that: 'The Island may be geographically isolated, but it certainly is not in terms of international finance.'

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