Isle Of Man Businessman Looks To Closer Ties With Islamic Financial World

Robert Lee, Tax-news.com, London

08 January 2001

Tax-news.com reported at the end of last year on the Annual Lecture Series held in up-and-coming offshore finance centre Labuan by regulatory body Lofsa. Up for discussion were topics including Islamic banking and finance, money laundering, offshore insurance, e-commerce and offshore tax planning, and amongst speakers from the middle and far east was Isle of Man businessman Richard Gough.

Mr Gough, formerly managing director of Royal Life International and now principal of RGA Consulting Ltd, has been reflecting on his visit to Labuan and told the Manx press recently that the future of the island's business could lie in Islamic connections. He said: 'In my presentation I initially drew parallels between the Isle of Man and Labuan by reference to the development of the finance sector and economy in the Island, something that I have been involved in since the early days'.

Richard Gough's speech focused on the establishment of mutual funds and international life assurance companies, types of products and distribution and the future potential of these markets. He also spoke of the future potential of Labuan and the Asia Pacific region, including the development of Islamic funds.

Richard Gough told Isle of Man Online: 'A considerable proportion of the world is Muslim and the development of Islamic contacts makes sense not only for locally based companies for also for international companies, including those who wish to maximise their activities in these areas or enter the market for the first time - this would include companies in established financial centres including the Isle of Man'.

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