Manx-Based Website With 'Specialized Services' For Offshore Financial Institutions Is Put On Hold

Amanda Banks, Tax-news.com, London

13 March 2001

Last November WISekey, a worldwide leader in certification authority and public key infrastructure, announced that it had created WISeOffshore, an internet initiative to provide specialized services and applications for offshore jurisdictions and their financial institutions. But the Manx-based service has now been put on hold much to the disappointment of the Island's e-commerce sector.

WISeOffshore was viewed as a major opportunity for the island and described by Treasury Minister, Richard Corkhill, as 'excellent news for the future of the Isle of Man as a centre of excellence for e-commerce.' Director of E-Commerce, Tim Craine, also enthused at the prospect of the WISeOffshore initiative, saying: 'I was delighted to hear of the decision by WISeKey to locate their new venture on the Isle of Man, especially as they had carried out such a detailed evaluation of other jurisdictions before arriving at their final decision.'

The aim of the website was to enable offshore financial institutions to improve their transaction efficiency and comply with "Know Your Client" requirements. WISekey said it had received 'unprecedented immediate support' in achieving its objectives through take up by financial institutions such as the Royal Bank of Scotland International, FsharpBank (Bank of Ireland), Abbey National Offshore, Isle of Man Assurance, Bank of Bermuda, Isle of Man Business School, Skanco and Cains Advocates. All the institutions, via WISeOffshore's services, would be given the opportunity to issue digital certificates and use Mail Secure to secure transactions.

So with such support, what went wrong?

Actually nothing has gone wrong, says Cains advocate and director of WISeoffshore, David Sherlock. He stated: 'It is effectively on hold.' He explained that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has not yet given the go-ahead for electronic know your customer services (e-KYC). But he estimated the website could be operational within the next three months. A philosophical Tim Craine said: 'I can understand the reasons for the delay. There have been changes in the market environment since the launch that no-one could have predicted, particularly dot com failures.' But there is some speculation in the Isle of Man media that it could take up to a year before the site is fully operational.

However, WISekey's president, Carlos Moreira, told the Isle of Man Business News that the project will be 'operational in different stages' and plans for the project are still underway, adding services such as the TrustEportal application (which involves the WISeOffshore certification and know your customer services) are currently undergoing tests.

He stated: 'The e-KYC component of WISeOffshore is only one aspect of the company and is not a requirement for full operations. It will only apply once digital certificates are used for financial transactions, but before that WISeOffshore will certify individuals and companies and will be used on technologies such as third-generation mobile phones.'

He added: 'The company is now fully registered in the Isle of Man with 100 per cent ownership from WISekey. We are now inviting other groups in the Isle of Man to join the project.'

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