Guernsey Firms Prominent On UK Exchanges

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

22 October 2010

More Guernsey-incorporated companies are listed on the markets of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) than from any its competitor finance centres, according to data direct from the market authority.

LSE statistics to the end of September also show there are more Guernsey-incorporated companies on each of the UK main market, the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and the Specialist Fund Market (SFM) than from any competitor.

In addition, Guernsey also leads the way in terms of the numbers of ‘equity investment instruments’ – the majority of investment funds – listed on the exchanges, both individually and collectively. This includes the fact that it has more equity investment instruments listed on AIM than any other jurisdiction, including the UK and more listed than the UK, Jersey and the Isle of Man combined.

The figures from the LSE website also show that there have been more new listings so far in 2010 from Guernsey than any other rival centre.

Peter Niven, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance – the promotional agency for the Island’s finance industry, commented: “This data is direct from the London Stock Exchange and as such, it is a ringing endorsement of Guernsey’s credentials as a leading international finance centre. These figures are further confirmation of the strong relationship between Guernsey and London but also they are a strong reminder that the Island is a location which provides the opportunity to list on a range of exchanges and thereby gain access to capital from investors across Europe. These are messages that will resonate with professionals that we are going to be visiting in the next couple of weeks in the Far East, the Middle East and India.”

The LSE website shows that there were 106 Guernsey-incorporated companies with a market value of GBP21bn listed on the LSE markets as of September 30, 2010. Of these, 60 were listed on the UK main market, 41 on AIM and 5 on SFM. There were 66 equity investment instruments from Guernsey on the exchanges at this time, with 44 on the main market, 19 on AIM and 3 on SFM.

There have been 14 new listings by Guernsey companies so far during 2010, including Better Capital and Raven Russia moving from AIM to the main market, Shore Capital Group listing on AIM and the NB Distressed Debt Investment Fund on SFM.

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