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The leading legal, trust and private client professionals in Jersey and Guernsey set out their thoughts on the role that offshore structures might continue to play in times of change at this year’s Mourant Ozannes International Trust & Private Client events hosted in the islands.
The conferences are established on the professional services calendar as important events to attend, and attract keynote speakers from across the industry. One of the liveliest debates this year was around the subject of transparency, common reporting standards and the impact of Tax Information Exchange Agreements, which was particularly topical in the wake of recent media interest.
Jim Edmondson of Mourant Ozannes said: “Transparency is a big issue at present. The British Government prompted by the OECD and political pressure both within and without the UK, is moving closer to a register of beneficial ownership of offshore companies holding UK real estate and if that is a public register it will bring yet more confidential information into the public domain. The conferences gave local industry leaders an opportunity to consider and discuss all of these matters."
Over 70 guests attended the conferences in each Island and heard from speakers from Mourant Ozannes, Serle Court, Butterfield Trust, RBC Wealth Management, Withers and Schillings, among others. In Guernsey the keynote address was given by Hazel Marshall QC, Lieutenant Bailiff, who proposed a robust argument that the recent media and political furore over offshore financial centres was predictable and opportunistic. She highlighted the need for there to be a wider and more sophisticated debate and education on the subject of offshore structures.
Michael Byrne of Wealth-X, the global authority on wealth intelligence, opened the Jersey conference with a presentation on trends and implications globally as the world’s ultra-wealthy population continues to grow. It is expected that the number of ultra high net worth individuals will grow by 25% in the next five years.
Attendees at both conferences concluded that the Channel Islands continue to lead the field in transparency, highly regarded judicial systems, political stability and tax neutrality. Efforts need to be maintained, nonetheless, to promote those strengths and attributes not only within the professional services sector, but to the wider global community.
