FINANCE ISLE OF MAN HAS RECENTLY APPOINTED PAUL BLAKE AS HEAD OF BANKING AND FIDUCIARIES.

Finance Isle of Man are delighted to announce that Paul Blake has recently been appointed as Head of Banking & Fiduciaries. Paul will be working closely alongside the Financial and Professional Services Sectors in the Isle of Man to support growth and success as well as ensuring, in conjunction with business partners, that we promote the Island's highly professional financial services. 

Paul has a wealth of industry knowledge and expertise, with over 20 years of experience across a range of Financial Services Sectors including Banking, Legal and Fiduciaries. We asked Paul about his career, ambitions in his new role and the upcoming priorities for Finance Isle of Man. 

It’s great to have you as part of the Finance Isle of Man team, tell us about your career so far?

I have over 20 years of experience having worked across a range of Financial Services sectors including Banking, Legal and Fiduciaries. I first came to the Island in 2001 with Lloyds Banking Group as a Senior Manager in their corporate banking team, responsible for a range of clients from SME’s to Multinationals both locally and internationally. I then moved into the Legal Sector where I was Chief Operating Officer at two leading Isle of Man Law firms and was responsible for the strategic development and driving operational excellence. Most recently, I was a Director at a boutique Trust and Corporate Service Provider specialising in Yachting and UHNW clients.

What brought you to live on the Isle of Man?

Work - A familiar story really. I originally came to the Isle of Man from the Northwest of England on a 3 year secondment with Lloyds Bank in their Offshore Corporate Banking division, 20 years later I’ve enjoyed it so much I am still here!

Tell us about your role at Finance Isle of Man as Head of Banking & Fiduciaries?

My role is to help promote and develop the Isle of Man’s significant Financial and Professional Services Sector. I will be working with businesses across these sectors to ensure the Island continues to be recognised as an International Financial Sector of excellence; helping them grow and develop whilst also identifying new business opportunities in the Banking, Fiduciary and wider Financial and Professional Services Sector.

What make the Isle of Man’s Financial & Professional Services sector so unique?

The Isle of Man has had an established Financial & Professional services sector for more than 50 years. For me, it’s an exciting and rapidly evolving Sector touching a wide range of industries. The Island has an enviable reputation of being a unique jurisdiction where the Government, the Regulator and the Financial Services sector work very closely together. Being internationally recognised as an exceptionally well regulated jurisdiction and having the ability to be nimble and forward thinking does make the Isle of Man unique. It makes the Isle of Man the natural choice as a jurisdiction for Financial and Professional Services to conduct their business from.

What are some of the priorities for Finance Isle of Man?

It really is an exciting time to be part of Finance Isle of Man. As the world begins to take stock of the impact of the pandemic and build a strategy for economic recovery, I think it’s going to be a crucial time for International Finance Centres like the Isle of Man to step forward and play their part as businesses look for stability and security. As a jurisdiction, we have an extremely strong proposition across all finance areas but in particularly family office, funds and wealth management, banking and professional services and I’m delighted that we’ll soon be launching a jurisdictional campaign targeting the UK and South Africa promoting the Isle of Man as an International Finance Centre of Excellence

As travel restrictions are lifting, Finance Isle of Man are planning to attend a series of PCD Networking Dinners in London, Zurich and Geneva as lead sponsors. I see these events as a great opportunity for us promote the Isle of Man as the natural choice for Financial Excellence and build new relationships that will additionally support our digital promotional activity.

Outside of the main Banking and Fiduciaries Sector, Finance Isle of Man are currently working with multiple industry partners to develop two new exciting propositions. Firstly, an Employee Benefits product to take advantage of our existing expertise in this field. And secondly, we are working to create an Insurtech ecosystem, building on the foundations of our renowned insurance industry.

What does the future hold for you in this new role?

I’m looking forward to continuing the great work undertaken by Finance Isle of Man and supporting the existing financial services businesses on the Island and will be working hard to support the wider Government’s strategy of attracting businesses to relocate and establish a presence on the Island. Recent times have been exceptionally difficult as a result of the global pandemic, but the Island’s ability to pull together, be innovative, nimble and forward thinking will stand us in good stead as the world slowly re-adjusts.

If you would like to speak to Paul around opportunities within the Banking and Fiduciaries Sectors, you can email Paul.Blake@gov.im

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