Never has it been more important to carefully consider your jurisdiction - John Hunter, Head of Banking and Fiduciary, Finance Isle of Man

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Ahead of the Monaco Yacht Show 2019 John discusses the key issues to consider when selecting a jurisdiction for your assets.

The Isle of Man has long had strong associations with the sea being an Island and naturally surrounded by water and the foundations of Royal National Lifeboat Institution were established in the Isle of Man in the 1800’s.

With a long nautical history it is not surprising that there is a well-established, world renowned and award winning Isle of Man Ship Registry, ranking 14th in the world in terms of tonnage, top of the Paris MoU White List and with over 120 superyachts held on their registry.

In turn the Isle of Man has numerous firms providing yacht and crew management services to yachts based all around the world.

This is of course part of the wider offering from the Isle of Man which encompasses not only nurturing High Net Worth individuals, nautical assets, (as well as their private jets) but also their long term financial needs in terms of asset protection and succession planning – especially where the individual is globally mobile and the assets are multi-jurisdictional.

Never has it been more important to carefully consider the jurisdiction in which to centre your international financial affairs and long term planning.

The key issues to consider in looking at your choice of jurisdiction are:

Regulatory and International Reputation and Standing

The Isle of Man is well progressed with its 5th Mutual Evaluation under MoneyVal and in doing so demonstrates it has a world leading Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing for Terrorism regime. The approach has been undertaken in a pragmatic and business friendly manner while ensuring the highest levels of regulatory observation.

The Island has demonstrated its ability to meet the ‘substance’ regime challenges and is able to do so by providing cost effective solutions, which means it is a great base for administering and managing multi-jurisdictional assets.

Economic stability

The Island also has a diverse economy with around 40% of the GDP derived from the financial services sector – it therefore has a well-balanced economy which underpins a strong sustainable environment, giving real comfort in planning for the long term.

Political stability

The Isle of Man has the longest running continuous parliament in the world – and was ranked 4th in the world terms of political stability in the recent HSBC Expats Survey. The Island therefore provides for an extremely low level of geo-political risk.

Summary

The Isle of Man is a leading International Finance Centre and compares strongly to comparative jurisdictions across all of these measures.

While the Isle of Man is well known for its seafaring connections, yacht and ship management – it is of course much more than that in terms of being an International Finance Centre.

As I have outlined, choice of jurisdiction has never been more important and the Isle of Man is occasionally overlooked by advisers when looking at structuring clients affairs and clearly this should not be the case. I would suggest that everyone looks at what the Isle of Man has to offer in terms of being an International Finance Centre of Excellence and where there is clear strength, stability and security.

To learn more or arrange an appointment to speak with John at the Monaco Yacht Show 2019 email John.Hunter@gov.im

 

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