Financial regulator and politicians on Guernsey delegation to China

MEDIA RELEASE: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not Bailiwick Express, and the text is reproduced exactly as supplied to us

A delegation from Guernsey is heading to China to reinforce the Island’s financial services offering to current and prospective Asian contacts.

Fiona Le Poidevin, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance – the promotional agency for the Island’s finance industry – will be accompanied by Peter Harwood, Guernsey’s Chief Minister; Kevin Stewart, Guernsey’s Commerce and Employment Minister; and William Mason, Director-General of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC).

Miss Le Poidevin said: “The first official delegation from Guernsey visited China in 2008, following the opening of our representative office in Shanghai in 2007, and since then we have made considerable strides in building relationships and raising our profile in the country as well as in Asia generally.

“This latest delegation will further enhance the progress we have made, particularly as we will be joined by our Chief Minister, Commerce and Employment Minister and the Director-General of the financial services regulator. Politicians and representatives from the GFSC have joined us on past China delegations, but this upcoming trip is the first time for these individuals in their current roles. It presents an ideal opportunity to build on the relationships already established by their colleagues and predecessors and to develop new ones.”

The group will be in Beijing from Sunday 17 November through to Wednesday 20 November, before heading to Shanghai for further meetings on Thursday 21 November through to Saturday 23 November.

“We see the delegation as an opportunity to highlight the expertise of Guernsey’s financial services industry across all our key sectors of banking, funds, insurance and private wealth,” said Miss Le Poidevin.

“In the short term we see plenty of potential in the private wealth solutions we can offer Asian clients, particularly with our recently introduced Foundations Law and our world-first image rights legislation, which both complement our already well-established private client offering.

“In addition, Guernsey can provide a gateway through which structures, such as funds, can be established for investing out of and into China, while in the long-term we expect to see our prominent captive insurance sector become an appealing option for Chinese clients. Captives are still a relatively new concept in China and, with Guernsey being the leading captive insurance domicile in Europe and fourth largest globally, the Island is perfectly placed to assist. This is especially the case as companies in China begin to expand their operations, becoming more international, which in turn increases their focus on risk.

In Beijing, the delegation’s itinerary includes meetings with the major financial services regulators and China’s Ministry of Commerce.

The Shanghai leg of the trip will include meetings with the Vice Mayor of Shanghai and the Shanghai Financial Services Office. Meetings are also planned with other financial services firms in both Beijing and Shanghai.

Since establishing the Island’s representative office in Shanghai at the end of 2007, Guernsey has worked in cooperation with the Chinese authorities in a number of areas. The Guernsey Government signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with the Chinese central government tax authorities in October 2010, as well as a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Shanghai Financial Services Office in November of the same year. The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) signed a Statement of Cooperation with the China Banking Regulatory Commission in November 2011.

The Island has also hosted successive Chinese Ambassadors to the UK on official visits to Guernsey and established a student exchange programme between the Guernsey College of Further Education and a school in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia.

Ahead of arriving in China, Miss Le Poidevin will be attending the STEP Asia conference in Singapore on Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 November. She will be joined at this event by Guernsey practitioners from firms including Ardel Trust, Carey Group, Collas Crill, Confiance, Nerine Trust Company and Louvre Group.