Guernsey Finance Sector In The Spotlight

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

14 February 2002

According to a report in the Channel Islands newspaper, The Guernsey Press and Star, Guernsey Promotional Agency chief, John Bridle has been keeping himself busy recently, with the result that the jurisdiction's financial services sector is currently very much in the spotlight, and for all the right reasons.

The article states that so far in 2002, Mr Bridle has addressed a British Bankers Association conference on private banking in London, and hosted a press launch attended by editors from 14 leading international and offshore financial titles.

At the launch, the GPA head discussed the contentious issues of financial privacy and offshore private banking, commenting on the United States' turnaround over transparency following the events of September 11th.

He explained that although Guernsey is happy to cooperate in whatever way possible, and has tried to maintain a constructive relationship with both the OECD and the FATF, it is important that where changes need to be made, they are made by all countries, not just the offshore jurisdictions.

'The authorities must be made aware that UK and international institutions as well as the jurisdictions themselves expect a level playing field for the offshore centres,' he commented, adding that: 'If the Crown Dependencies are unfairly circumscribed by international agreements, they could in the future become uncompetitive.'

He warned that if this were to happen, financial services activity could migrate to other, less well-regulated jurisdictions, which might be less amenable to international opinion and influence.

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