This Is Guernsey

By Nick Mann

THE ‘Sark Lark’ is back in the spotlight.

The latest issue of Sark News lists directorships allegedly in the UK register with a Sark address, UK companies that have one or more Sark address directors, Sark residents who have had their details suppressed from the online UK register and those with current directorships in Panama.

‘It [The ‘Sark Lark’] is, as we know, an activity that does little for the island’s economy in general since it does not require the employment of staff,’ says a special edition of Sark News. ‘Nor does it generate any income for the community in the form of tax.

‘The only thing the “Sark Lark” has done for the island is to give it a reputation internationally as a place of shady dealings, while, of course, providing a few of its inhabitants – “the club” – with a very comfortable living.’

The list, found after an Internet search, is only the tip of the iceberg, Sark News claims.

‘Further information is no doubt to be found by digging deeper in Panama and checking the company registers of the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Madeira, Bermuda etc.’

Sark News is released with the approval of Brecqhou owners Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay and asks if the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, the UK authorities and the UK tax should look into what was happening. It also says an independent fiduciary register might be the way forward.

The Sark Lark came to prominence in the 1990s and involved islanders being paid to be directors of companies they often knew little or nothing about.

Those companies then benefited from favourable taxation and avoided certain legislation. In 2000, 575 Sark residents held 15,000 company directorships between them.