Michael Foot, author of the recent HM Treasury-commissioned report into the British Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories, delivered the keynote speech at the event. After reviewing his report’s key findings, and noting the complete lack of attention to his recommendations from a UK government that is in election mode, he spoke about the recent progress towards global tax transparency, urged on by G20 and OECD whips.

He noted that Guernsey was well placed, and in particular praised its market-aware regulator, but was at pains to point out that the OECD would be looking for substance not just form, when examining the progress made by jurisdictions towards the required level of Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA). He noted for example a TIEA between the Bahamas and San Marino, and countries that were ‘getting the Nordics’ (the Nordic Council includes the Faroe Islands), for a quick jump up the TIEA rankings. Eventually, he predicted that we are likely moving towards a model of automatic tax information exchange and a shared, tight, definition of ‘income’.

The event also examined Guernsey’s innovations in structures and products. The use of structures such as Private Trust Companies (PTC), Limited Partnerships and Family Limited Partnerships (FLP) were analyzed, with contributions from Jon Heaume, Chairman of the Guernsey Association of Trustees (GAT), Ashley Crossley from Baker & McKenzie and Russell Clark of Carey Olsen. Both PTCs and FLPs were explained to be particularly suitable for entrepreneurial requirements. PTCs were noted to be increasingly popular with Russian clients, often requiring high levels of control, whilst aspects of FLPs were said to be more suited to the Middle East and Far East, where Islamic Finance compliance might for instance be an issue.

Practitioners Roger Berry, Chairman of the Guernsey QROPS Committee and Wedlake Bell’s Jane Wolstenholme looked at the latest developments in pensions, including Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS), Employer-Funded Unapproved Retirement Benefit Schemes (EFURBS) and Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs). Roger Berry, stoically enduring microphone trouble, sought to make it clear that Guernsey was one of the safest and most compliant QROPS jurisdictions, noting that it had pro-actively sought engagement with HMRC to ensure compliance. Jane Wolstenholme voiced doubts over the long-term future of EBTs in their current incarnation, expecting test cases with HMRC to commence in the near future.

Following his keynote, Michael Foot joined the debate on the future for ‘offshore’ wealth management, in a session led by Gavin St Pier, Deputy Chairman of STEP Worldwide, and featuring Richard Cassell, the Joint Leader of the Private Client Practice at Withers Worldwide and Nils Johnson from Spence Johnson, who worked with STEP on the research for a recently published report ‘Offshore Evolution’. Guernsey professionals Tony Mancini of KPMG and Marcus Leese from Ogier were also sitting on the panel.

The discussion took in the key issues facing the fiduciary community, including an update on Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs), confidentiality, revisions to the European Union Savings Directive (EUSD), Channel Islands tax reform and amendments to Limited Partnership legislation. There was much to cover in the short session, but particular attention focused on the looming additional US withholding tax on foreign financial firms, on the death of banking secrecy, and on the upcoming revision of Guernsey’s personal and corporate income tax regimes – expected to take ‘years’ according to the panel.

The panel debated, following observations by Michael Foot, whether it might be time for offshore financial centres such as Guernsey to combine forces in the face of continued pressure from ‘onshore’, particularly in areas such as expensive EU lobbying in Brussels. Members of the panel agreed that there does seem to be a will to formalise such cooperation.

All in all one was left with the impression that Guernsey is at the forefront of the offshore evolutionary wave. One neutral delegate summed up their impression of Guernsey as “efficient, compliant, transparent and acceptable to ‘onshore’”