News & Views

It has been announced by the UK Government that the Finance Bill proposals relating to non-doms that were dropped prior to the election will be reintroduced, and that they will take effect from 6 April 2017 as originally envisaged. It is not clear when this will occur – the statement simply says "as soon as possible", and that could be as late as October, subject to no change of government.

The prospect of Brexit and what it will mean for Guernsey was a key topic of discussion at the recent sell-out Annual Guernsey STEP Conference.

A common theme at the Jersey Finance Private Wealth Conference, for which Moore Stephens was among a number of sponsors, was the turbulence of international politics and economics. Richard Hay, of Stikeman Elliot likened it to a giant wave, washing over (back and forth) governments and financial institutions.

If the world is a more uncertain place, even than this time last year, then Jersey must be prepared to stand up for itself in the international market place. This was the view of experts at the Jersey Finance Private Wealth Conference, held in May in London.

‘Opening up everyone’s cupboards in the expectation that it will make everything better’ is not only wrong, but naïve and potentially damaging to clients, according to James Quarmby of law firm Stephenson Harwood. Quarmby was speaking at the Jersey Finance Private Wealth Conference about the increasing drive for transparency in international finance and the tension caused in relation to data protection and a client’s right to privacy.

One recurring theme from the Jersey Finance Private Wealth Conference was the need for Jersey to focus attention on quality – quality of its professionals, quality of its businesses and quality of its regulation.

Seeking an informed perspective is critical to Jersey’s success as an international finance centre, delegates to the Jersey Finance Funds Conference were told. Jonathan Pugh-Smith, legal counsel for Bregal Investments was speaking as part of a panel and stressed that the island needed to focus on internal matters, but not ‘bury its head in the sand’.

There are risks for Jersey, but we are not risk averse.
 
This was the message from Geoff Cook at this year’s Jersey Finance Funds Conference in London. The risks are self-evident – the impact of Brexit, the unpredictability of the Trump presidency, changes in China and other emerging markets.

From 18 April 2017 Jersey will implement a new Jersey Private Fund (JPF) regime that will essentially streamline two previous regimes into a single, more effective solution for clients.

How HMRC applies residency rules post April 2017 will have a big impact on the tax status of offshore trusts, according to Hazel Johnson of Moore Stephens. Johnson was speaking at the recent BL Guernsey Trusts Conference and outlined the new rules that trust practitioners need to be aware of for offshore trusts with onshore assets.
 

 
Tainting will be a major theme for trust practitioners under the new HMRC rules for offshore trusts. At the recent BL Guernsey Trusts Conference Moore Stephens’ Hazel Johnson joined Carolyn Steppler from EY to discuss issues for tax and taxation in the world of trusts.
 

How will global demographics affect the trust industry? That was the question posed by Andrew Holden of XXIV Old Buildings at the recent BL Guernsey Trusts Conference. Headline information on demographics shows a population explosion around the world and, significantly, more people now live in urban than rural areas.
 

Trustees have a duty of care to their clients, and this is never more pressing than when discussing the issue of fraud and the financial abuse of the vulnerable. Professor Robin Jacoby of Oxford University addressed the recent BL Guernsey Trusts Conference on this topic, comparing practice in the trust sector with that of the act of making a will.

Are trusts a thing of the past or can they adapt and thrive in the new international finance landscape? This was the topic for debate at the recent BL Guernsey Trusts Conference, and the subject of the first panel event featuring lawyers from Walkers and Mourant Ozannes alongside senior tax manager Paul Beale of KPMG.
 

Michala Wright has been appointed as the HR manager at Moore Stephens (Jersey) Limited.

What makes you a UK resident? Many would think this is pretty straightforward, but, as Emma Chamberlain of Pump Court Tax Chambers noted in her presentation to the STEP Autumn Tax Conference recently, it can be the cause of much hand-wringing among private client advisors.

It has been three years since HMRC introduced statutory residence tests and there is still some confusion over the best way to help clients through them.

Contrived or abnormal? What does that mean? John Barnett of Burges Salmon noted at the recent STEP Tax Conference that these words were being used more often to describe tax affairs, primarily to identify schemes where unusual lengths have been gone to in order to avoid tax.

Angus Taylor has been appointed chief executive officer at Moore Stephens (Jersey) Limited, the newly formed holding company for all of Moore Stephens’ businesses in the island.

Unintended changes in tax status should be at the forefront of private client advisors minds, according to several speakers at the recent STEP Annual Tax Conference.