IoM funds review

LIKE Guernsey, the Isle of Man is planning changes to regulations governing investment funds in the hope of attracting more business. A new consultative paper has been published following a report in March which said that the island should aim to increase funds under administration to $100bn and those under management to $50m. by 2010. The Funds Review Group also suggested more emphasis on front and middle office operations.

The Financial Services Commission proposes introducing two new types of collective investment schemes – the specialist investment fund, aimed at the institutional funds market, and the qualifying investment fund for non-retail investors. However existing experienced investor funds will be able to continue as specialist type or qualifying type experienced investor funds.

Web of intrigue

WEB address www.gibraltar.com has been sold in an online auction for $360,000, according to The Gibraltar Chronicle.

Online auction house Sedo said it was a high price to pay for such a name, with www.malta.com selling for only $250,000 last year and www.uruguay.com going for $175,000. The Gibraltar website is currently just a list of island links, but no one knows what the new owner has planned.

Coming clean

LIBERIA and the Marshall Islands have finally agreed to improve financial transparency and establish effective exchange of information on tax matters.

That means they have been taken off the OECD’s list of un-cooperative tax havens.

The list, which originally included 38 jurisdictions including Guernsey and Jersey, is now down to only three – Andorra, Liechtenstein and Monaco.

Money for new ropes

AN INDEPENDENT survey estimates the Isle of Man could generate an additional £2.5m. in revenue each year from proposed marina developments in the harbours at Douglas, Peel, Port St Mary and Ramsey.

The report said there were 993 marina berths in the Isle of Man and the plan is to add 610.

The ratio of berths and moorings to population is 1:81, which the report says is low compared with Jersey – its 1,700 berths produce a figure of 1:52.

Bermuda short

BERMUDA’S hotels are full, according to The Royal Gazette. Quoting premier Dr Ewart Brown, who is also tourism and transport minister, the island is benefiting from more air links, including a new low-cost carrier from the UK.

However, hotels have not been able to handle the increased capacity, so air arrivals were actually down by 1.5% in the second quarter. There are 11% fewer hotel beds on offer than a year ago.

Credit where it’s due

THE Isle of Man has retained its AAA rating from Standard & Poor’s.

According to Isle of Man Today, the credit rating agency cited a strong government balance sheet underpinned by net assets equivalent to 46% of 2007′s gross domestic product. Economic growth and negligible unemployment also counted towards the rating, all of which could apply to the Channel Islands.

However, the report also notes that the level of integration with the UK was also seen as important by Standard & Poor’s because it is seen as improving creditworthiness in a highly open economy.

Manx Treasury minister Allan Ball said the rating was a vital part of the island’s sales pitch.

Eye on the territories

A REVIEW of the standards of governance, transparency and accountability in the British Overseas Territories is to be carried out by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons.

It will include considering the work of the Overseas Territories Consultative Council, the procedures for amending constitutions, human rights, the application of international treaties and the relations between the territories and the UK.

Fifteen territories are involved, including Gibraltar and Bermuda.

Nordic news

FINANCE ministers of the Nordic countries have said they intend to conclude tax information exchange agreements over the next few years. Negotiations are already under way with Aruba, the Isle of Man, Jersey and the Netherlands Antilles and the ministers say they are looking forward to starting negotiations with Bermuda, BVI, the Cayman Islands and Guernsey.

Manx a good bet

A NEW online betting company is now fully operational in the Isle of Man. Senior management of financial bookmaker BetsForTraders moved from New York in July and is now fully operational in Douglas. The company offers fixed-odds betting on stocks, stock indices and foreign exchanges, mainly to European and Far East clients.

According to Isle of Man Today, the company chose the island because it ‘is by far the leading offshore jurisdiction for e-business based on local laws, taxation and the level of workforce education’.

Reinsurance assurance

BERMUDA is still streets ahead of the competition when it comes to the reinsurance market, according to a Reinsurance Association of America report quoted by The Royal Gazette.

The amount of premiums ceded to the island’s affiliated reinsurers has grown from $8.8bn in 2002 to $18.5bn in 2006. Switzerland came second with $8bn last year, while Germany and the Cayman Islands saw declines of $4bn and $500m. over the five-year period.