Better relations with the UK are working - Chief Minister

Tuesday 28 January 2014

A stronger relationship with the UK government helped Jersey get off a French blacklist, according to the Chief Minister.

Speaking at this morning's Jersey Finance Annual Review, Senator Ian Gorst told an audience of close to 200 people that a more positive relationship with the UK was a real benefit in the recent negotiations with the French authorities over their decision to put Jersey on a list of uncooperative jurisdictions. A concerted political effort has seen the Island removed from the French "blacklist".

The Chief Minister has political responsibility for the finance industry, and he pointed to the UK Prime Minister David Cameron's statement in September that he no longer considered Jersey to be a tax haven, as evidence of the strengthening relationship with the UK. 

Senator Gorst welcomed the work which has been done to document the impact of Jersey's financial services industry on the UK economy, such as the "Value to Britain" report produced by Capital Economics, which suggested that the Island's main industry also supported 180,000 jobs in the UK. 

He commented that the Island sometimes seems too "backward in coming forward" and should do even more to promote itself on the international stage. The Chief Minister praised the work of the regulator, the Jersey Financial Services Commission, in helping to steer the Island through the recent financial crisis without a major collapse, and said that the industry could build on the firm foundations laid in 2013 and look forward to a strong future ahead. 

Jersey Finance Chief Executive Geoff Cook echoed those comments, saying that the Island was "very well placed to capture the upside in the recovery".

He told the audience of politicians and finance professionals that a new business development representative in London, along with someone based in the Dubai International Finance Centre, and a new "launchpad office" in Shanghai, were among new developments in 2014 which would help Jersey to secure more business. Jersey Finance has also contracted two new international PR agencies.