CONTACT - Guernsey Chamber of Commerce

is due to visit shortly to sign a joint
tax exchange information agreement.
Guernsey Finance, together
with commerce & employment
Minister carla McNultyBauer, has
just returned from its rescheduled
volcanic ash cancelled trip to Delhi
and Mumbai. this coincided with
news from Jersey that they will be
establishing an office in india at some
stage in the near future following
the opening of its Middle east office
which is due late 2010/early 2011.
a small group of Guernsey
Finance members has also set up
a group to look at opportunities
in russia and a trip is planned for
2011. looking further ahead South
africa, luxembourg, Holland and
Switzerland are also on the radar.
Guernsey Finance’s 2010
activity ends with a rebrand of
the Guernsey brand which will
include replacing its ‘the symbol
of international finance’ strapline
with ‘international Finance centre’
A new year and new challenges
With 2011 just weeks away, Guernsey
Finance is already making plans.
‘We will still be dealing with the rump
end, the long tail of the downturn
but there are signs that things are
looking up,’ said Mr Niven.
‘With that in mind, what we want
to do is to capitalise on what we have
The GF and
industry team
exhibiting at
STEP Asia in
Hong Kong
(October 2008)
‘As well as promoting the island to
the more mainstream financerelated
industries, Guernsey
Finance has also been identifying
new niches in the market place.’
done in 2010 and to do more in 2011.’
the three key focuses
for 2011 will be:
industry Funding law – Mr Niven
hopes that this will be a catalyst
for increased communication with
industry. ‘We are your servants, we
are reflecting what you believe you
should be saying to the marketplace
and i hope that the industry Funding
law will help that,’ he said.
Sector Blue Skies sessions –
Guernsey Finance plans to bring
representatives from each sector
together to discuss the future
Working with Jersey – Mr Niven
accepted that this had been discussed
before but there was now an active
opportunity. Jersey companies are
already listed on the Hong Kong
Stock exchange and it is hoped that
Guernsey can achieve the same in
2011. the opportunity is to work
with Jersey to get channel islandsbased
funds recognised by the Hong
Kong Stock exchange. ‘perhaps the
seeds have been sown and i hope
that we can do more work together
and gain the benefits,’ he said.
on top of this Guernsey Finance
will also need to react quickly to
aiFM should it come to a conclusion,
Solvency ii and the decision on Zero
10 to get the message out. it will
also continue to showcase Guernsey
at conferences around the world,
with MipiM, BiBa, Brokerexpo,
BVca africa and Superreturn
Me all in the mix for next year
it is also in the process of looking
for a deputy chief executive
and technical adviser.
‘it’s going to be quite daunting
but as a team we are looking
forward to it,’ said Mr Niven.
www.guernseychamber.com | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2010 | CONTACT | 39