STEP To Open Branch In Mauritius

Tax-News.com, London

01 October 2002

The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), the professional body for the trust and estate profession worldwide which currently has over 8,500 members, will soon be welcoming a Mauritius branch into its ranks.

STEP, whose members come from the legal, accountancy, corporate trust, banking, insurance and related professions has more than 30 branches throughout the world, including the USA, the UK, and most of the prominent offshore jurisdictions.

Colin Sharp, Chairman of STEP Worldwide, David Harvey the Chief Executive and Michael Woolf, member of the Board of Directors, annouced that STEP was considering setting up a branch having two components, one responsible for the learning needs of students and the other to implement programmes for the professionals.

“We are very keen to help the young students increase their level of learning” stated Michael Woolf. He referred to the recently launched world-class specialist MBA programme tailored to the needs of the sector which the Manchester Business School in association with STEP is now offering.

David Harvey is quited impressed by the number of professionals operating in Mauritius and highlighted that STEP, through the setting up of a local branch, will have the opportunity of assisting the Mauritian authorities in improving the status of their professionals.

There are a dozen Mauritian professionals who are currently members of STEP; they will be called upon to create a structure with the support of the local branch of the Society.

Just last week, STEP issued a major new study attacking the OECD's campaign to reform offshore jurisdictions. The study, Towards a Level Playing Field, undertaken by law firm Stikeman Elliott for STEP and the International Tax and Investment Organisation (ITIO) said that, while arguing for tighter regulation of “corporate vehicles” in small countries, the OECD is excusing large OECD corporate domiciles such as Delaware and Nevada in the USA from compliance with new rules to regulate service providers and track beneficial ownership.

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