Guernsey Holds EU Workshops

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

26 October 2010

Guernsey’s Commerce and Employment Department, through the Finance Sector Group, has recently hosted a series of workshops on the European Union, to debate issues relevant to the treatment of Guernsey in international fora, and to discuss matters pertinent to the island’s development.

The two workshops were several months in the planning by the Department with full assistance from the Guernsey International Business Association. Both workshops involved the Chief Minister, Lyndon Trott, and the Minister and Deputy Minister of Commerce and Employment, Carla McNulty Bauer and Marc Laine, representatives from the Guernsey International Business Association and the Guernsey Financial Services Commission as well as officers from the Policy Council and the Department.

The first workshop involved Professor Alastair Sutton who provided insight into the changing role of the EU in the field of financial services. The EU has become a significant influence on the global financial services industry. Guernsey is not immune from that influence and initiatives such as the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, the Code of Conduct on Business Taxation, as well as numerous other initiatives. In addition, the interests of each sector of the finance industry were discussed as well as the changing regulatory landscape in Europe.

Marc Laine, Deputy Minister, Commerce and Employment Department, commented:

“Guernsey’s approach to the EU has served it well but the growing role of the EU is something that needs to be acknowledged. Guernsey has prospered by its ability to be different. It is important for Guernsey to constructively engage with the EU without wholesale adoption of EU rules which may not be suitable for Guernsey.”

“In the future if there is clear evidence of a need to change our level of engagement with the EU then that will only occur following full consultation and a debate in the States. We are not at that point yet, and we may never be."

The second workshop focused on the needs of the financial services industry and how the Commerce and Employment Department can maximise the benefits of the Channel Islands' Brussels office. In addition the group discussed whether or not the financial services industry felt there was any need for the States to review its level of engagement with the EU.

In the past few years the Commerce & Employment Department has spent a significant amount of time working on issues which have emanated from the EU; the AIFM directive is the latest example. Developments such as those are likely to continue and Guernsey must monitor them carefully and engage appropriately if necessary.

Paul Meader, Chairman of the Guernsey International Business Association said:

“GIBA, on behalf of the finance sector more broadly, has been pleased to be a part of an open and wide-ranging debate about engagement with Europe, a debate that will, inevitably, continue in the coming years. The most heartening result of our discussions was the fact that all in industry, government and the regulator are keen to work together to get the right outcome.”

“It is clear that the landscape is changing and it may be that the approach of the past that has served us well may need to evolve. The Channel Islands' Brussels office is an important step forward in that regard”.

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