1 November 2013Analysis

Guernsey delegation to sell captive concept to China


Guernsey will be promoting its financial services sector in China this November, with the Island’s chief minister, commerce and employment minister, director-general of the Guernsey financial services commission and head of Guernsey Finance leading a commission to Beijing.

Fiona Le Poidevin, chief executive of Guernsey Finance said that the delegation is “an opportunity to highlight the expertise of Guernsey’s financial services industry across all our key sectors of banking, funds, insurance and private wealth.”

Le Poidevin added that “in the short term we see plenty of potential in the private wealth solutions we can offer Asian clients, particularly with our recently introduced Foundations Law and our world-first image rights legislation, which both complement our already well-established private client offering.”

“In addition, Guernsey can provide a gateway through which structures, such as funds, can be established for investing out of and into China, while in the long-term we expect to see our prominent captive insurance sector become an appealing option for Chinese clients.”

“Captives are still a relatively new concept in China and, with Guernsey being the leading captive insurance domicile in Europe and fourth largest globally, the Island is perfectly placed to assist. This is especially the case as companies in China begin to expand their operations, becoming more international, which in turn increases their focus on risk.”

Guernsey signed a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) with the Chinese central government tax authorities in October 2010, as well as a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Shanghai Financial Services Office in November of the same year.