THE new Guernsey Registry is expected to generate nearly £9m. for the States next year. It will also be a modern infrastructure for administering companies which, it is hoped, will attract business ahead of other jurisdictions.
Guernsey registrar of companies Mark Whiteley (pictured) said the office would be a major contributor to States revenue as the new system for company registration, which complements the companies law, comes into effect next Tuesday.
‘The forecast income for 2009 from annual validation and fees is £8.8m. and that’s why we are encouraging Guernsey companies to register their clients in Guernsey because it will all go into States revenue.
‘We don’t know how many exactly, but there are something like 40,000 or 50,000 BVI companies administered in Guernsey and if they were Guernsey companies instead, registry revenue would be going to Treasury and Resources and then into the health service and education or wherever they wanted.
‘And the feedback from people in the finance industry is that yes, they will form more Guernsey companies because the new system is online, cheaper and quicker.’
Mr Whiteley said the registry’s offices at the Markets had been completed below budget and on time.
‘We are self-funding as a registry. The costs of setting up the property and IT infrastructure have been funded by loans that we will pay back through registry income,
so we have not used States capital.’
The States loan for the
IT system cost £600,000 and the premises came in at £350,000.
The registry employs 14 staff and that will be reviewed in the coming months.
‘Staff numbers are comparable with other jurisdictions, but we will review that after the initial bubble. Some places have as many as 27 dealing with the same number of companies, while others have got slightly fewer than us.’
Article posted on 24th June, 2008 - 2.29pm
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