Guernsey, Luxembourg Explore Fund Sector Synergies

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

12 October 2011

A team from Guernsey’s fund industry hosted an event in Luxembourg last month aimed at boosting cooperation between the two jurisdictions, discussing ways in which service providers in the two centres can work together more effectively for mutual benefit.

Fiona Le Poidevin, Deputy Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance, the promotional agency for the island’s finance industry internationally, said:

“Guernsey and Luxembourg are both widely recognized as leading centres of excellence for investment fund services but a significant difference is that Guernsey is outside the European Union whereas Luxembourg is a European Union member state.”

“What we were emphasizing to our Luxembourg counterparts is that there are fund structures which can substantially benefit from having both ‘onshore’ and ‘offshore’ elements and, where this is the case, Guernsey is ideally placed to act as the ‘offshore’ domicile. In particular, it appears that the most obvious areas for cooperation relate to private equity and real estate funds where there is a wealth of expertise across the two jurisdictions.”

“This event was about harnessing the spirit of cooperation that is already in evidence but which we believe can be significantly extended for the mutual benefit of both jurisdictions. We were very well received and now it is important that we maintain these relationships and build on them for the future.”

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