Ahead of the curve

Threatening to blacklist jurisdictions which fail to compile public registers of the beneficial owners of trusts and companies is all well and good, but politicians would do well to understand the legislations already in place in off-shore financial centres, says Dominic Wheatley.

I only took over as chief executive of Guernsey Finance at the beginning of December last year, but have already been struck by the shear range of activities and topics that we, as the promotional agency for the island's finance industry, are dealing with on a daily basis. I have found this diverse daily workload both invigorating and challenging, which is no bad thing. It does, however, demand of the team here at Guernsey Finance high levels of flexibility and a broad range of capabilities and knowledge.

Personally, my knowledge base has been developed predominantly across the insurance sector, having gained more than 25 years' experience in the international financial services market in the UK and Guernsey. This means that since December I have been getting to grips with the various different facets of the other sectors we represent. The private wealth sector is certainly one of the most broad and fascinating to consider, and the one where the drive for high standards is most compelling and gaining most prominence.

Misguided electioneering

For months we've been keeping a close eye on the growing desire in the UK and EU for the creation of central public registers of beneficial ownership for companies, trusts and other structures. These moves gained even more attention at the beginning of February when Labour leader Ed Miliband, threatened to blacklist the British Overseas Territories as well as the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man, should his party win the next general election and these jurisdictions have failed to compile public registers of offshore firms within six months.

The Miliband move has been referred to by many external commentators as a misguided attempt at winning public favour, with him wanting to be seen to be exerting pressure on offshore finance centres. What Mr Miliband fails to appreciate is that Guernsey was in fact one of the first jurisdictions in the world to regulate trusts and corporate service providers, something which still does not happen in many territories around the world today, including the UK.

Ahead of the curve

In addition, Guernsey has had legislation in place since 2000 that obliges all beneficial owners of Guernsey companies and other legal persons to be properly identified and recorded by regulated trust and corporate service providers (). This means that Guernsey can provide timely and robust beneficial ownership information should there be a requirement and request to do so by the relevant authorities, in the case of suspected illegal activity. Again, Guernsey is one of only a handful of jurisdictions that have such measures in place.