[Moghrey Mie]

Apparently 50 countries have joined a new international crackdown on financial secrecy and tax havens.
But the UK has not joined the Taskforce on Financial Integrity and Economic Development.
They want beneficial ownership and accounts of companies to be made public. Also exchange of information on income, gains and property.

It appears the UK wants to protect the City of London from prying eyes.

[tucker]

Moghrey Mie, on Jan 22 2009, 08:33 PM, said:

Apparently 50 countries have joined a new international crackdown on financial secrecy and tax havens.
But the UK has not joined the Taskforce on Financial Integrity and Economic Development.
They want beneficial ownership and accounts of companies to be made public. Also exchange of information on income, gains and property.

It appears the UK wants to protect the City of London from prying eyes.

Has the IoM joined?

[Albert Tatlock]

Whilst everyone's panicking about global economic development, and countries borrowing excessive amounts to bail themselves out of the economic mess - we on the island should be gearing up for what happens after things improve i.e. when UK etc. taxes go through the roof to claw it all back. Canny Manx businesses should be gearing up for that now, ready to launch new products in 2011

[Sebrof]

Moghrey Mie, on Jan 22 2009, 08:33 PM, said:

It appears the UK wants to protect the City of London from prying eyes.

In what way? All UK companies have to submit annual accounts and lists of shareholders and declare who exercises ultimate control. All this is freely available to anybody prepared to pay a couple of quid to download it.

If they're defending anybody it's certain crown dependencies..........

S

[Bombay Bad Boy]

Sebrof, on Jan 27 2009, 01:03 AM, said:

If they're defending anybody it's certain crown dependencies

Cold and Rainy ones

[cheesemonster2005]

Albert Tatlock, on Jan 25 2009, 11:01 PM, said:

Whilst everyone's panicking about global economic development, and countries borrowing excessive amounts to bail themselves out of the economic mess - we on the island should be gearing up for what happens after things improve i.e. when UK etc. taxes go through the roof to claw it all back. Canny Manx businesses should be gearing up for that now, ready to launch new products in 2011

Nah, tax havens are finished. Iceland's out of the way and next to fall will be Andorra and Leitchtenstein (can't be bothered finding the correct spelling). It'll take the IOM government a while to figure it out but the Isle of Man's finance system will be dead within a few years. People will want security and assurance with their money and investing in banks located on small islands where bank deposits massively outway local GDP is not safe money as we've learnt from Iceland.

[Albert Tatlock]

cheesemonster2005, on Feb 3 2009, 12:57 AM, said:

Albert Tatlock, on Jan 25 2009, 11:01 PM, said:

Whilst everyone's panicking about global economic development, and countries borrowing excessive amounts to bail themselves out of the economic mess - we on the island should be gearing up for what happens after things improve i.e. when UK etc. taxes go through the roof to claw it all back. Canny Manx businesses should be gearing up for that now, ready to launch new products in 2011

Nah, tax havens are finished. Iceland's out of the way and next to fall will be Andorra and Leitchtenstein (can't be bothered finding the correct spelling). It'll take the IOM government a while to figure it out but the Isle of Man's finance system will be dead within a few years. People will want security and assurance with their money and investing in banks located on small islands where bank deposits massively outway local GDP is not safe money as we've learnt from Iceland.

...and I suppose crime and war are finished too, since they caught a couple of burglars last week and things are calming down in Iraq.

The world, and especially the financial world, just doesn't work like that. It's all about products that legally keep steps ahead of forthcoming or threatened legislation, and the financiers and lawyers that design those products - and whilst certain groups of offshore customers may be affected, it's a big assed globalised world out there with many many people always looking for tax efficiency.

Obama is president of the USA and Brown the prime minister of a small country - not the world. Concerned as they are with over-taxing their own citizens, they still welcome money flowing and invested in their own countries from elsewhere.

Jebus, with this credit crunch, it's taking them enough time to realise even where all their own money has gone and what is at risk and exposed as 'toxic' - never mind come up with some 'world solution'. Nah, efficient tax jurisdictions will outlive my grandchildren, and I ain't got any of them yet.

That said, I still firmly believe in diversification, and our politicians shouldn't have, or shouldn't in the future, waste any of the good times and ensure that we have more diversification in our economy. Diversification levels the bumps in any economy.

[Slim]

cheesemonster2005, on Feb 3 2009, 12:57 AM, said:

Nah, tax havens are finished. Iceland's out of the way and next to fall will be Andorra and Leitchtenstein (can't be bothered finding the correct spelling). It'll take the IOM government a while to figure it out but the Isle of Man's finance system will be dead within a few years. People will want security and assurance with their money and investing in banks located on small islands where bank deposits massively outway local GDP is not safe money as we've learnt from Iceland.

You might have a point if people were investing with small banks on a small island, but they're not. They're investing in the worlds biggest banks on a small island. Big difference.

[Freggyragh]

There could be a place for offshore banking in the future, but banking won't be recovering for quite a while yet, certainly not by 2011. A lot depends on how the UK decide to behave, and judging from recent behaviour, and last night's ridiculous BBC Propaganda, Panorama programme which was short on facts and long on insinuation (why was the reporter wearing a wetsuit on the beach in Jersey?) it looks like the UK has decided to put all the blame for its financial problems on its smaller neighbours.

[Albert Tatlock]

I see Tony Brown is giving evidence in Londinium this morning.

[Moghrey Mie]

Albert Tatlock, on Feb 3 2009, 10:02 AM, said:

I see Tony Brown is giving evidence in Londinium this morning.

I found it strange that he said depositors in IOM banks should only loook to the IOM for help and the
IOM could deal with its own financial affairs.

Surely if another big (IOM) bank had problems simliar to KFS IOM government could not afford to compensate people. It would cost millions.
And the Depositors Compensation Scheme would be small beer for some people.

[triskelion]

Moghrey Mie, on Feb 4 2009, 04:13 PM, said:

I found it strange that he said depositors in IOM banks should only loook to the IOM for help and the IOM could deal with its own financial affairs.

I thought that was pretty good from the perspective of preserving autonomy and self-governance. If he said that he thought the UK Government should be paying out then he could have opened a massive can of worms. Saying that's down to the individual depositors was dead right imo.