The Director General of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, Peter Neville, has defended his organisation against criticism from States members and refuted suggestions that the island was losing business as a result of the FSC's perceived shortcomings.
"We were surprised by some comments and disappointed by others. The points they raise are not new," said Neville in a Guernsey Press and Star report. He continued: "Some have been addressed and some are unfounded. Neither the commission nor the industry sees any truth in the suggestion that the commission is deterring good business."
"Far from receiving complaints, I am seeing an increasing number of compliments from the industry about our adaptable, friendly and efficient handling of matters," Mr Neville explained.
"We are helping industry process high levels of new business in several areas - including funds - and the recently-published survey made it very clear that financial services firms in Guernsey are looking forward to higher revenues and higher profits."
Certainly, recent figures from the FSC that, according to Peter Moffatt, director of investment business, show a "substantial" increase in the number of funds registering in the jurisdiction would seem to bear out Neville's argument. They have shown that that from the beginning of 2003, four open-ended funds, five closed-end funds, and fifty-one sub-funds consisting of both umbrella and multi-class strategy formats have applied to register in Guernsey.
The director general also denied that the institution was overly bureaucratic. "That is not the view of industry. It has supported us in taking on more staff so that we can process their applications and so we can maintain standards. Our workload has increased substantially and we have had to grow simply to keep pace with developments."
The FSC was very much aware of striking a balance between the island's economic interests and international regulatory requirements said Neville. He said that Guernsey should counter international criticism by continually meeting the money laundering requirements of the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) and the IMF (International Monetary Fund), though not exceeding these requirements. In summary, Neville concluded: "We believe we have the balance right."
A comprehensive report on the offshore funds sector, including details of the regulatory regime in a number of top jurisdictions, is available in the Tax News Reports Shop at http://www.tax-news.com/reportshop
