The Future of Offshoring

The world is changing. The arguments about the causes of global warming continue but there is another change that is clear to see, the move to eliminate financial secrecy is vast and still growing and the future for many Offshore Finance Centres (OFC's) is in doubt.

There is an unstoppable move towards 'transparency' which threatens the existence of many of them. In a world where secrecy no longer exists, those that survive, and indeed prosper, will do so because of the breadth and sophistication of the services they are able to offer. They will need to demonstrate that they have a stable government, a track record of economic stability, excellent electronic and physical communications and offer cost and/or tax advantages. Those that are in the forefront of winning this contest are the British Crown Dependencies, particularly the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey, and they are already seeing benefits beginning to accrue. They are on the OECD 'whitelist' and the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has stated that it is unfair to refer to them as 'tax havens'. Managing family wealth is a long-term project that requires a partnership with a management team that can demonstrate that they have a track record of success, that they have the skills, experience and integrity to become an essential part of the family's future in assisting them to grow and protect the rewards of their labour. The rapid growth of wealth being generated in the BRIC (Brazil, Russian, India and China) countries being particularly suitable markets, and India having the advantage of ease of communication and a legal system with much commonality. Common tools used in achieving wealth management objectives are Family Offices and these will use trusts, foundations and companies to protect and control such things as investments, trading entities, charities, yachts, aircraft, and perhaps most importantly, inheritance planning. The various structures will, like the family itself, change over time and a successful family/professional advisor partnership will itself continue to evolve. Michael Shimmin is chairman of the Fedelta Group. He was also chairman of the Trust and Corporate Industry representative body in the Isle of Man for a number of years.www.fedelta.com The above article was published in India Inc′s print edition of the India Investment Journal launched in April 2014 in conjunction with the Global Wealth Management Conclave 2014.