A:Guernsey :
- Is the first, and so far the only, jurisdiction which has introduced "Image Rights" legislation to help protect against the misuse of peoples images - notably film stars, sports people etc..;
- Has received the strongest endorsement of all international financial centres from the International Monetary Fund following their review of the islands regulatory regime in 2010 and 2011;
- Is the most compliant of all jurisdictions (including US and UK) with regard to the FATF 49 Recommendations on AML and CFT.
The island is politically and economically stable with no national debt or external borrowing, unlike some of our competitor jurisdictions. Since the inception of the financial services sector over 50 years ago, Guernsey has established world leading standards of regulation and an internationally recognised banking, insurance, legal and accounting infrastructure. Additionally third party research bodies state that Guernsey falls within the very top tier of "offshore" jurisdictions and is ranked second in the list of global specialist finance centres.
Q:What are the most popular financial products in your jurisdiction?
A:Guernsey trust companies do not promote "financial products" in a similar way to those associated with Chinese domestic trust companies. Independent trustees retain third party investment managers to construct investment portfolios to match the individual client risk profile.
Q:What kinds of professional financial services (trust & foundation/corporate structure) can your jurisdiction provide?
A:Richmond can provide the full range of services required to administer any structure which includes trusts, companies or foundations. With our extensive experience we ensure structures are managed in a way that maintains their tax neutrality.
Q: As an offshore financial centre, what are you going to do in terms of balancing the need for more transparency with the need to protect the privacy of clients?
A:Although the Guernsey Government will sign agreements to satisfy the international demand for transparency, every effort will be made to retain clients privacy. The Guernsey legal system respects client confidentiality but Guernsey does not have, and never has had, secrecy laws.
