Isle of Man

COULD the international pressure on the island be easing at last?

Over the past five years, our financial services, tax rates and Customs deal have come under intense scrutiny from beyond our shores.

We’ve had the EU question our corporate tax regime, the painful revision of our VAT deal twice in two years, an inquiry commissioned by the Westminster government has run the rule over our ability to withstand financial shocks and the OECD has reviewed our tax transparency and co-operation.

It seems that barely a week went by without another brickbat being lobbed our way by Brussels, London or Washington.

But now as 2011 comes to a close, there is a tangible feeling that international relations have turned a corner – and the pressure on us, at least for the time being, has abated.
...

Chancellor Alistair Darling this week cut the Isle of Man's budget by 24pc when he sharply reduced a 400-year-old customs revenue-sharing agreement.

Previously the UK gave the island an estimated £230m a year as part of the agreement, allowing the island to cut corporation tax to zero for all companies apart from financial institutions, which pay 10pc.

Thomas Amenta of Moody's said the Isle of Man's room for manoeuvre was now "substantially limited".

Isle of Man, Insolvency Manager or Senior Manager
Accountancy

£61,000 - £70,000
Isle of Man, UK

A leading and very well respected accountancy firm is seeking an experienced and highly motivated Insolvency Manager/ Senior Manager to join their Isle of Man Recovery team. This is a two year fixed term contract with an opportunity to work with some of the best people in the business.

The role will involve working on a mixture of Corporate Insolvency Cases with a high proportion of time taken up by looking after the liquidation of Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander and therefore financial experience is desirable.

Successful applicants should be of ACA calibre or ideally be JIEB qualified. Management and liquidation skills are essential as this is an opportunity with a lot of responsibility and will involve coaching junior members of staff.

For more information or a confidential disucssion, please contact X at WH Marks Sattin on xxx or apply with an up to date CV by clicking on the 'Apply Now' button.

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www.whmarkssattin.com/emea

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Hong Kong, Leeds, London, Melbourne, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Seattle, Signapore, Sydney

Be wary of bankers back to their old tricks

Includes the following paragraphs:

If the products coming across my desk are anything to go by, it’s no wonder Barclays wants to remain out of the limelight. Barclays Wealth, its private-banking arm, seems to be launching one structured product a week at the moment — you know, the kind of product that offers great returns from the stock market plus your capital back in full. They seem too good to be true, and they usually are.

It was only on reading the small print, that you would have realised your deposit would be held by Barclays Bank plc on the Isle of Man — one of the offshore havens that attracted the ire of the chancellor recently.

When Icelandic banks Landsbanki, owner of Icesave, and Kaupthing collapsed last year, the British government stepped in to guarantee deposits — but not for those who had invested via the offshore arms.

Depositors with Landsbanki Guernsey have recovered only 30% of their money, while customers of Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander Isle of Man have protection of up to £50,000 — but the scheme may not have enough cash to cover their claims.

Thousands more who invested in KSFIoM through offshore bonds feared getting nothing at all because the £50,000 limit applied to the bond wrapper, not the individual.

[ Make your comments about this article in the Forum ]

THE Isle of Man's financial reputation is set to receive a major boost – after it emerged that we are to get some top marks in a key report by the International Monetary Fund.
A draft copy of the IMF report, which followed an inspection visit in September, praises the Island's financial regulation,financial stability and anti-money laundering legislation.
[continued]

Inaccurate and misleading spin

A DAG representative has spoken to the article writer Iain Martin and demanded a retraction or at least a rewrite to get the facts correct, as yet that has not happened. DAG view is that we should not give news spin an airing on the forum.

Here is the link, but please note that DAG opinion is that until it has been re-written the article should be regarded as an inaccurate, misleading spin - link to citywire article.