2

Glyn

Nice comment Mr Niven. Now get back in the real World. After your trip it looks like the only people who will want to put deposits on the island are the Chinese. Good Luck.

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4

Muzeek

It beggars belief that Mr Niven is carrying on with his promotional trip to China when there is a severe lack of confidence with the finance industry at home.
Wouldn’t it show leadership if he came straight home and worked with the powers that be on a solution before its too late.
His final comment ” I know it’s terrible, but its an isolated incident. I certainly hope this is a one off. But at the moment you never know what is coming out of left field. We have to hope that things will calm down because of what the big countries have done”
It really makes one feel good eh…..

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6

Brenda

I stand to loose my home, and my future in the Landisbanki failure, I have loved Guernsey, but unless our funds are returned in full I will never trust her banking system again. I believe my fellow depositors from all over the world feel the same way and you can be sure that all their friends and families will learn about our situation and also doubt the wisdom of banking in Guernsey unless action is taken to protect us.

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8

Mike Rogers

What else can we really expect Mr Niven to say. He is enjoying a “Jolly” at the taxpayers expense. The truth is otherwise.
I am one of the victims of Landsbanki who fortunately had spread assets across several banks. My first move was to close the two other accounts I had with banks in Guernsey. I am advising all my friends with money in Guernsey accounts to get it out asap

Mike Rogers

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10

Steve

Dear Mr. Mr Niven,

Dream on my good fellow…!

Your argument is based on this being a world problem.

Ha Ha Ha!

…you seem to have overlooked one very important point…

The Landsbanki Bank which has closed its doors upon its trusting customers and now refuses to allow them to withdraw their hard earned savings was operating in -

Guernsey…

And…(FACT) – Yours is the only government which has not offered financial assistance to the depositors who have been so badly treated…

Even Iceland guranteed the saviongs of their own citizens upon the recent nationalisation of their own banks..

This Landsbanki banking disaster occurred in Guernsey.

Guernsey Mr. Niven.. GUERNSEY

Not some other place.

…It occurred in your back yard and you and/or your government are it seems doing nothing to assist the depositors who beleived Guernsey to be a safe haven for their personal savings recover their money.

This is the example you are making for those who now look all the more carefully at where it might be best to invest ..

Indeed, time will tell whether your governments lack of support for depositors in GUERNSEY will seriously damage the reputation of the island as a place where funds may be deposited safely…

But as for me…(& my guess is for many others besides)

…whether I am able to recover funds from Landsbanki or not.. I would not consider depositing a penny more in banks based on the island of Guernsey & niether would I encourage any other person to do so…

Put THAT in your self-confident pipe and enjoy smoking it in Beijing my good felelow!

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12

Geraldine

What world does Mr.Niven live in when he is not on ‘jollies’ abroad at the tax payers expense.
Anyone with any sense would move their money out of Guernsey until the Guernsey Government gets their act together quickly and promises to cover their banking system with protection as have most other countries. Why trust a country if their leaders are too cowardly to back their own businesses. I would move my money from my own island without hesitation and put into Ireland or the UK until the financial services of Guernsey back depositors. They are quick enough to boast about our wonderful financial services on the world scene but too scared to actually back depositors (their bread & butter) when it really matters.

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14

Lawrence

It is all well and good believing that the sneaky, tax dodging, morally ambiguous ‘wealthy entrepreneurs’ and secret cash stashers will still take advantage of being able to squirrel their hoard unnoticed in Guernsey, but I think that the real damage caused to the locals and their undermined confidence in the ruling elite of Directors, Bankers and paid up politicians casts a shadow on the whole system here. For whom is Guernsey being run?

The finance industry was already increasingly viewed as more malign than benign to the less well off local and this situation has hardened that negative opinion.

How’s that pension fund doing?

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16

Max Brumby

Peter Niven et al, after the usual poor communication from the Governmental during this banking crisis, stop the Derren Brown “Look into my eyes, all is rosy” routine and get working on restoring confidence by protecting the Landsbanki depositors. You dream if you think saying everything is okay, whilst not actually doing anything to make things okay is the solution. It’s a house of cards at the moment and the wind is blowing.

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18

F. Erker

Guernsey appears to be the ONLY PLACE ON EARTH where politicians are not looking after the interests of their depositors (through the provision of a guarantee on deposits as done by a number of countries) and fighting to ensure they get their money back from the Icelandic government (eg by teaming up with the UK).

The whole issue is brushed under the carpet and blamed on the global economic condition. Lyndon Trott is washing his hands of the whole matter and leaves it up to the administrator. He anticipates “substantial recoveries”, whatever that means. MR TROTT, WE DID NOT MEAN TO PLAY THE ROULETTE WHEN DEPOSITING OUR MONEY IN GUERNSEY BUT MERELY TO KEEP OUR CASH SAFE IN A REGULATED BANK. SO, REFUNDING ANYTHING LESS THAN A 100% OF DEPOSITS = DAYLIGHT ROBBERY.

Make no mistake: the fates of Landsbanki’s savers and Guernsey’s financial industry are inextricably linked. Anything less than a refund of 100% of deposits will send a powerful message to the international investment community and, to state the obvious, Guernsey will be finished as a financial centre. Even with the Chinese, Mr Trott…

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20

Cheesed

Mr Niven,

You are wrong. Guernsey’s appalling response and the fact that funds in Guernsey banks are unsafe have already been spotlighted by media outlets in the UK and abroad.

The financial world KNOWS.

As I type this, institutional and private investors are pulling their investments out of Guernsey – everyone from Joe Average to Mac Bank.

You sir, are completely out of touch with reality.

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22

Brian

Guernsey’s weak ‘hands-off’ government is great when things are going well, but when disaster strikes we need someone to take the lead.
Mr Niven is out of his depth as well as out of touch…. surely he must realise that any financial adviser will tell his clients to steer cleer of the Channel Islands now that it is out in the open that their is effectively no protection?

A crisis is only a badly managed issue.
Guernsey has effectively created a crisis out of this issue.

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24

David

One major point that many contributors to this blog are overlooking is that even if Guernsey did have a depositors’ protection scheme in line with other jurisdictions like the UK and the Isle of Man, the upper limit would be limited to somewhere between £35k and £50k per customer per bank. Those people who are exposed to losses of £1m, £500k, £250k etc. at Landsbanki would NOT have had any greater level of protection. There are no standard depositors’ protection schemes which guarantee 100% of bank deposits and there is never likely to be one because governments simply cannot take those uncapped risks. Those governments which are claiming to have done so, such as Iceland and Ireland, are incapable of delivering on their guarantees without those countries going bust and is highly questionable whether it it legal to offer a higher level of guarantee for “residents only” of the jurisdiction in question, which is what Jersey is proposing.

Whilst not having any form of depositors protection scheme is clearly a problem, the benefits of actually having one do need to be put into some perspective.

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26

Philip, France

Mr Niven’s words are totally deplorable, dismissive of the plight of some 2000 people like me who have lost some or all of their life savings in Landsbanki GG. The GFSC did not regualte to prevent LBGG lending its assets to the UK subsidiary of Landsbanki. Now is the time for Guernsey to restore ‘confidence’ by acting to assist the depositors – e.g. by assisting the administrators, demanding a repatriation of funds from UK gov / Heritable UK assets – not by swanning around China at taxpayers’ expense.

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28

Jonathan Nettleton

Mr. Niven
You are on another planet; have a look on the website of those who have lost their all with Landsbanki:
Maybe one or two are so close to desolation and losing all that the ultimate, i.e. suicide seems the best option!
Enjoy your holiday

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30

Old Guern

Ray
Well said, that’s the best comment by far.
I did mention their high interest rates to my customer relations manager at my bank a few months ago.
He replied ” They obviously need a lot of cash, and you have to question why ”
Enough said.

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32

V Concerned

Mr Niven

If Guernsey wishes to be recognised as reputable international financial centre then it needs to demonstrate professionalism and integrity.

We should have a depositors guarantee to ensure that at the very least we compete with alternative locations and that guarantee should have been in place some time ago.

That aside Guernsey should impose sufficiently strong regulation on businesses setting up in Guernsey to ensure that customers of that business are protected ie ensure that funds are segrated or ring-fenced not lost in the ether.

But even more importantly given the current situation it beggars belief that Guernsey appears to be doing so little about the matter and that the people responsible for the people and businesses of Guernsey are in China!!!

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34

David

Ray and Old Guern
You are absolutely spot on with your comments. If a rate looks too good to be true then it probably is. What weren’t all other banks offering similar rates ? Because they didn’t need to.

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36

D Oldfield

I have invested all my retirement money for years in Guernsey and the IOM. But now after this debacle and the don’t care attitude of the Guernsey Government and it’s ministers which is an insult to the intelligence of anyone who would ever invest there. For my remaining time on this earth from now on and forever, I will post everywhere that Guernsey in particular is just not a safe place to invest, with or without their new talked about compensation scheme. If its anything like the IOM, it has nothing in it, not a penny, and is likely to payout a percentage of any approved claim over the next 10 to 20 years. Another joke ! The UK government is also equally guilty of criminal activity as it has frozen the assets of the Heritage BS where our funds were sent just days ago, after a run on the BS funds. Gordon Brown will not return this money to Guernsey but has kept it to pay out the UK’s arm of this corrupt banking system. These three governments should take a close look at their principles and rules about protecting its citizens, no matter where they choose to live in the world or for what reason they are outside of their birth country. This stinks !

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38

Gilthead

Whilst I agree with the sentiment regarding Nivens comments – most posts seem to have got the wrong end of the stick!

Those unfortunate depositors were not investing their money in “Guernsey” but a branch of an Icelandic bank. If those said depositors had done some homework (as others did) they would have seen the danger signs and steered well clear. Or at least spread the risk.

Remember all that glitters is not gold. Would the investors of Landsbanki have placed money with the Moldovan State bank at 6.5% – I think not. However Iceland is a tiny country on the edge of Europe with a population of 300k and an economy reliant on tourism and fishing – it shouldn’t have any banks! Guernsey doesn’t. Iceland is now totally skint as a result of total enonomic mis-management. Guernsey isn’t. Moldova now seems a better bet.

I do however think that the GFSC needs to be smarter when a bank appears to be in trouble, revoke its licence and freeze assets etc.

Whilst this post does seem a little hard on the depositors of Landsbanki my sympathies are with them – it must be awful.

My suggestion to those who may lose money is to fly up to Iceland, figure out real estate values and lay a claim.

Or perhaps receive compensation in the form of cod.

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40

Old Guern

Today I did a couple of clicks on my computer mouse, and within seconds my savings were covered by the government compensation scheme.
Oh what a relief.

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42

William T.

The world would be a far better place if it’s motto were “service before self” and not “self before service”.

One would hope that a GuernseyFinance chief executive would consider him or herself a servent of the people.

Real people have and are suffering because of the self serving action of the government of Iceland that took what does not belong to them.

And in the light of this injustice it is hard to believe that a public servant can be so uncaring as to refer to this injustice and the resulting suffering as ‘I know it is terrible, but it is an isolated incident. I certainly hope this is a one-off’.

I would hope the police and fire departments of
Guernsey don’t serve the people in the same way and with the same attitude as Peter Niven.

And the truth is an injury to one is a injury to all! Every single person that had money deposited in Landsbanki Guernsey should and must have their money returned in full!

If not, we are all wronged, and there in fact is no grounds for confidence in Guernsey, the United Kingdom, or anywhere in the so called Free World!

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44

Dominic

The Islands at present are the only areas that have presided over the worst loss of investors’ money in the Isle of Man and Guernsey with little or no chance of getting their money back. These are crucial times for the Islands.
As mentioned in many postings this could be the final nail in the coffin just look at Tax Justice comments.
Mr Niven must think he is speaking to fools instead of concerned intelligent human beings.

Vince Cable says shut tax haven operations
Bloomberg report:
The U.K. Treasury should tell banks receiving investment from the government to close their operations in offshore tax havens, said Vince Cable, a Liberal Democrat lawmaker who speaks on finance.
“It seems totally inappropriate for banks funded by the taxpayer to be systematically avoiding British tax or helping customers to do so,” Cable said in an interview. “The anomaly of the nationalized banks will bring this issue to a head.”

This does of course follow up on this story.
The Isle of Man Bank is now owned by…H M Government of the UK
You couldn’t make this up.
The Isle of Man Bank is the sole note issuer for the Isle of Man.
And it is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland.
And so it now owned by HM government of the UK.
Interesting….
Maybe, just maybe the crisis is over
But let’s not pretend for a minute the problem is solved.
I am as pleased as anyone if we have pulled back from the brink (and it looks likely that the markets are saying we have as I write).
But as I’ve said here often: stock markets do not reflect reality. In reality our banks are still bust, banking is still malfunctioning, the cancer of toxic debt is still in the system. We have a long way to go.
But maybe we can now begin the clean up. There’s a lot to do.
I won’t hold my breath

The abuse of charity
I have been sent an email promoting the Philanthropy and Social Investing Summit, about which it is said:
A new era for philanthropy has emerged. Your client’s needs are more sophisticated and their demands are becoming ever more complicated. The move towards structured giving and social investing means that you need to keep abreast of the latest thinking, vehicles, obstacles and planning techniques so that you are able to offer the highest quality advice.
Leading experts from the industry will guide you through the biggest issues and concerns in the philanthropy arena
The list of speakers is drawn from many of the firms promoting tax avoidance in the UK. Some are members of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners which blatantly promotes tax haven activity. So, let’s be clear: this has nothing to do with philanthropy unless it’s of Fagin’s sort: “Charities fine, subscribe to mine”. This conference has everything to do with tax avoidance and denial of the resources to the State to ensure it can support those in need. In summary, this is about the abuse of society as we know it. I find that sickening, especially at this moment.

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46

Dominic

David the States of Jersey and Guernsey depositors who are non-resident have no protection whatsoever. Businesses, trusts and company structures are not covered by the Jersey scheme nor are depositors in Guernsey. The Islands is therefore heavily dependent on the UK government to safeguard the deposits of the major British banks. There should be a warning to all depositors that they are taking a big risk with their money that is a fact. Most people are worried sick worrying for the future of the Islands and to hear the stories of the poor souls caught up in the Landsbanki debacle is very frightening.
Can any body on this blog confirm that there is no risk? The smugness of Ray, old Guern and David seems heartless and as they say” there go I but for the grace of God”.
For the first time I find myself agreeing with Matt Fallaize

The Times reported (in edited form):
Wealthier investors who have stashed their cash in offshore bonds could lose their nest eggs after the schemes became embroiled in the Icelandic banking crisis. British investors have as much as £5 billion in the schemes, most of which have a minimum investment of £100,000 and are often used by people who intend to move or retire abroad. Aegon Scottish Equitable International has told financial planners it cannot guarantee the investments of some of its offshore bondholders, which were invested in Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander Isle of Man, which went into liquidation last week. It is understood offshore bonds provided by Axa and Canada Life are also invested in Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander Isle of Man. Do not bash Matt take some decisive action before the Islands are boycotted lets face it there is now enough ammunition for all the people that want to see the downfall of these beautiful Islands.

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48

kampa

The remarks from Peter Niven shows a disappointing attitude to the situation of depositors left out in the rain. How can he speak of a well regulated financial jurisdiction when he does nothing to assist the depositors, but refers to big countries who were working on it. What does he do? Just drum up with his PR in Asia to get more unsupported and assisted depositors? They will surely notice what is the support for the depositors from Guernsey Finance and will not be too overjoyed if he does nothing and is not actively trying to get the full money back but thinks it was just a slip up and a misfortune for the depositors. A very poor attitude of any CE.

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50

Dominic

Darren a very naive posting you really do need to get out more can you not see the Sharks circling .If Obama gets elected you will see a concerted effort with Europe and all the G7 countries already France, Germany and people like Vince Cable to shut down the offshore areas and with millions lost by depositors does not bode well for the future. It is very dangerous to bury your head in the sand please read below Cable’s comments and others

Close down the UK’s tax havens
Vince Cable of the UK’s Liberal Democrats, and widely thought to be the wisest commentator on finance in the UK House of Commons said yesterday:
I would like to see the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and British dependent territories in the Caribbean closed down as tax havens. How can we have any form of tax integrity if territories under British jurisdiction are helping rich individuals and companies avoid the tax which other citizens pay?

He’s right, of course.
And the Tories showed their real colours when Philip Hammond, a Conservative member of Parliament who speaks on finance said:
We do not believe it automatically follows that banks receiving taxpayer support should be required to close down their international operations
No of course you don’t: that would harm your friends in the City. And your sources of finance.

The French want to relaunch the OECD attack on tax havens
French Prime Minister François Fillon said in parliament yesterday that he wants tax havens. or “black holes” as he calls them, to “disappear” as a first step towards reforming the international financial architecture.

This is just as we have argued: undermining the regulatory and tax systems of other nation states is the very raison d’être of the secrecy jurisdictions.

This follows a statement by French budget minister Eric Woerth on September 29 that he intended to organise a meeting of OECD nations to “relaunch the fight against tax havens” in October or November. It seems to have cross-party support. Segolène Royale, the Socialist who lost to Nicolas Sarkozy in the presidential elections last year, supports an attack on tax havens; Arnaud de Montebourg, a parliamentarian who has long studied the phenomenon, outlined in a press release yesterday some measures that need to be taken. Loosely translated, his points are:
1. Banish bank secrecy.
2. Suppressing tax havens means suppressing beggar-thy-neighbour tax policies on capital which serve as tools to attract our capital to dubious destinations.
3. Break the secrecy associated with trusts, Andstalts, or fiducies (a French equivalent to trusts) which block judicial and fiscal co-operation with our own authorities.
4. We should require the application of the same prudential banking norms that we demand from our own banking establishments.
5. Violation of all these requirements could be sanctioned in various ways, including by interdiction and embargoes on financial transactions to or from these territories — something that (a French law,) voted in in June 2000 under Lionel Jospin’s government, currently makes it possible to do.
If, Montebourg continued, the current French government cannot convince member countries of the Euroepan Union or its associates to suppress these unfair rules, he would advise them to do as former French President Charles de Gaulle did in 1963 with respect to Monaco, organising a customs blockade. This is reminiscent of what Willem Buiter recently recommended in his article “Blockade the tax havens.”

We should add that these are, so far, just words from the French Prime Minister. We await action. Note that things are happening in Britain, too.
NB: This originally on the TJN blog

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52

Greg

Whilst I feel very sorry for depositors who may have lost money with Landesbanki, why should we Guernsey tax payers be expected to bail out those depositors, especially when a great many of them will have been from outside of our island?

Many people argue that the banking industry should contribute, but why should responsible Guernsey banks (of which there are many) be penalised for the mistakes of unresponsible banks. And let’s face it, if the banking industry is forced to compensate, the public will end up paying for it in a combination of reduced interest rates and increased charges.

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54

David

So Dominic in what sense are we a “secrecy jurisdiction” compared with other jurisdictions, including the UK and the US ? Is the fact that we are freely signing up to Tax Information Exchange Agreements not evidence that we are co-operating willingly with onshore jurisdictions ?

The last time I looked the ownership of bank accounts was not a matter of public record in the UK or the US or indeed in many other counntries, and nor was the beneficial ownership of companies. Moreover, those jurisdictions don’t regulate their trust industries to anything like the standard that we do.

What exactly do we have to fear ? My only concern would be if we were refusing to co-operate with onshore jurisdictions and acting irresponsibly in the process. That is very clearly NOT the case.

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56

Guernseyman

here here … I second David’s comments.

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58

Darren

Dominic

Sharks? I haven’t seen that many around Guernsey, well not ones that look harmful.

Perhaps you refer to the fact that international Governments would like to have some parity in international trading and investments, after all everyone agrees with fair trading and people often cry foul when the Monopolies commission finds companies working together to gain unfair advantage.

You could argue metophorically that Jersey and Guernsey (and what used to be left of the Isle of Man) used to have a monopoly on low tax off-shore investments.

As for Obama – what are you talking about? Do you think he is sat at home with Mrs Obama talking about Guernsey’s finances? I think you will find that people who produce Policy in that and other countries will shape the future, not one person in charge. I mean, look at the outgoing president, he probably couldn’t tie his shoe laces without some form of secretary for Shoe Laces or something to advise him on which lace to hold first, or perhaps how to get in a tactical advantage on laces and do a pre-emptive strike buy purchasing slip on shoes.

Sorry but this needs some humour – everyone (I mean Dominic) is obviously Googling every world article and believing what he reads.

This is what will happen – The UK will own more than 60% of all banks. The US will do the same, as will France, Germany and many other parts of Europe.

If down the line they see that other juristictions are not playing fair (i.e. encouraging suspicious offshore deposits or tax free submissions etc) then it is only right they protect their back yards.

You can’t say it’s ok to have a housing licence policy to keep people out, but not have an international fiscal policy to avoid international destruction of the worlds finances.

Maybe its me – but lets face it, bleating about it on here won’t make the first bit of difference. Guernesy politicians are driven by self interest and very little else (apart from the good old Laurie Morgan who was quite a character).

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60

Guernseyman

Grim Reaper … see ya … don’t let the door hit you on the ar$e on the way out.

If that is your thoughts on Guernsey then maybe the feeling is mutual and we don’t want or need you here as well.

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62

Merlin

Deputy Hadley stated on the news tonight that the reason that the Guernsey States of Deliberation cannot rush through a depositor’s protection scheme is because the banks have indicated that they would pull out if this were to happen. My question is why?

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64

Dominic

Darren I can assure you I do not need google to identify the moves that could occur and become a threat to the Islands. The OECD stopped short of many of their demands the last time because of a change in America of President.
I am very aware of the people behind Obama who have already outlined a blueprint of some of the financial moves they would like to make.
I can name you all the players in Europe that have had one common goal to see the closure of Finance as we know it, can you?
Of course if a Conservative Government were elected it would give the Islands a degree of safety. I would be the first to defend the Islands as they are well regulated and have been awarded from many counties accolades in reference to banking but so many people that post have no idea how many countries would love to see the closure of Finance and the ignorance on how the World works is quite evident.
Looking on the bright side we most probably have the strongest team of Ministers for many years. Never underestimate the people that would take great pleasure in tearing Guernsey apart from the Island we know now.
Obama will not be just talking about Guernsey but the offshore areas worldwide. You should look up Senator Carl Levin who is very close to Obama .
With all the Worldwide coverage of Guernsey and the Isle of Man on most news channels and how Investors were not covered and millions lost you are deluding yourself that we once again will become the targets of the OECD.
Typical comment from Guernseyman if you post anything that is not agreeable they tell you a boat is leaving in the morning and of course most of these people have not got a clue.It took nearly eight years to catch on with the first attacks on the Islands from the OECD in 1997.

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66

Fast Robert

Merlin
It’s because they want their fat cakes and they want to eat them. Like fat rich people they like to think that their worth to society is unquestionable, and any means to impose expense on them is an affront to their perceived standing.

The fact is Guernsey is being taken for a ride by these corporations, they know that time is limited to maximise profits before stricter laws filter through. They know that by parading the arguments that ‘life has never been better’ (tell that to the LG depositors, the rising cases in mental health problems, the choked streets, the scraping around for funds to educate children, the constant derision from onshore commentators, the lack of public connection to the political process – a group of disliked senior politicians making questionable judgements about our children’s future etc etc) and pointing at graphs to show how much bigger houses and cars have become over the last ten years, how much tax revenue is taken (and then spent on maintaining a decrepit infrastructure struggling to keep pace with the population increases – it’s not enough), fooling Guernsey people into accepting this bully-boy attitude by holding up gaudy trinkets and columbian coffee beans.

That letter in the press yesterday is a case in point. It sounded like a spoilt child stamping its feet when a favourite toy is about to be confiscated as punishment for breaking a window. The fact that these bosses who have ruined 800 local people’s lives with their moral ineptitude and disgraceful cover ups (why haven’t the LG board been dragged over hot coals for not disclosing the failures of its parent, are their no scruples in deposit banking anymore?) and then have the temerity to think that they are ‘under attack’ is beyond me.

These non-local bosses swagger about Guernsey thinking that they own it. The dinners, the golf, the exclusive access to policy decisions, the mockery of local tradition and their bare faced arrogance is an insult to Guernsey.

If they did leave what would become of us? The population would shrink, the luxuries would be unaffordable, life would be harder for some, but so what? Communities would still exist, a local econmy would be forced to flourish, people would stop being envious of their neighbours puerile excesses.

Our elected representatives need to realise that appeasement to these fascistic forces, as Dep Jones loves to iterate about the EU, is untenable and the power must return to the people in such a small jurisdiction.

“Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.” – Benito Mussolini.

It’s food for thought, no?

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68

Fast Robert

David
I challenge you to reveal the provenance of all of the money hidden here in the complex trust structures. The AML officers can’t. What makes you so sure? Is it because you rely on them to make your business work? The power of vested interests knows no bounds.
Guernsey people are ignorant of the potential for serious dirt to be exposed. Already our regulator has been proved inadequate at looking after local interests. It doesn’t give me much confidence in the rest of it.
Especially as I have up to the minute training in this field.
It is clear that it has been possible to purchase property without much due diligence. A few bits of paper here, a stooges passport there, a holding company somewhere else, a famous law firm recommendation – none of it difficult to do.
Do you really think that the 7000 people working in finance (because there’s little else to do) really care about these things? Nope. As long as their overinflated pay that is distorting the local economy gets stashed every month and spent in the restaurants and coffee shops and on the traders that you seem to think would all perish without them.
The defenders of the morally ambiguous goings on need to listen to the anger of the people in the street before pompously riding roughshod over them.

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70

David

And another thing Fast Robert, you seem to be linking the Landsbanki collapse to money laundering or criminal activity, otherwise why raise it ?

You will clearly always take the first opportunity to slate the local finance industry and allude that it is rotten to the core, using any piece of negative media reports, whether criminal or not, to attach to your anti-finance industry views. Its absolutely your fine for you or anybody else to hold those views but they lose all credibility when you exercise your freedom of choice to earn a living from the very same finance industry.

How on earth can you sleep at night when facing the next days work at a den of inequity ? There’s nothing like holding strong principles is there when it comes to earning a living. Do you decline a bonus when offered one by your employer, knowing that it must come from such highly immoral sources ?

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72

Fast Robert

David
I never said that the Finance Industry is rotten to the core, only that by trading in tax mitigation products then it attracts funds from potentially dubious sources, given that secrecy is for sale.
I happen to agree with you that Guernsey is probably one of the more ‘open’ tax havens and is probably more pro active than most.
What I am railing against is that Guernsey’s finance industry holds itself up as some sort of ‘saviour’ for local people, as if before it arrived Guernsey folk were somehow backward. That’s how the bosses speak.
For all the richness deposited here, for all the league tables we aspire to lead, nothing much is happening in a sustainable and societal way.
Confidence is the topic. If Guernsey cannot protect local deposits, and the leaders of the industry can write anonymous letters to the Press suggesting what a ridiculous idea it is, then why should we have confidence? If it was your money in that bank would you be confident, or would you just shrug your shoulders and raise your management fees?
Why should I feel confident in a system that our politicians are backing over the needs of the public? Why do these top suits always threaten to leave when decisions that may not suit them are in the offing? Confidence? Or a big con?

So you admit to not knowing where our billions come from and yet you can sleep well at night knowing that none of it is dirty? It only takes one account as a depository for funds derived from sex exploitation or drug trafficking or an Indonesian dictatorship to shatter the illusion of confidence. Why should the locals be tarred with that? We didn’t ask for it.

It’s hardly radical.

Again, in my defence, is a teacher not allowed to criticise the way a school is run? Or a doctor criticise hospital management? I could go on.

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74

David

Dominic, the article states: “The nations of the world must adopt mechanisms to bar uncooperative offshore financial institutions from accessing international financial systems.”

The word “uncooperative” is the vital one. Guernsey is of course not uncooperative and must ensure that it does not become so. Otherwise we will certainly be facing big problems ahead.

In this day and age one cannot fairly tar all finance centres with the same brush, although ignorance on the part of some commentators and politicans does not help. Guernsey operates to far higher standards than most offshore (AND onshore) jurisdictions. Uncooperative jurisdictions will be picked off one by one and for any jurisdiction to survive it must remain acceptable to those who matter. We are well placed in that regard but any complacency would be a massive mistake on our part.

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76

Dominic

David I agree with most of your points on that article but the agenda that Europe and Obama, Levin have is far and beyond what anybody would term fair.And as you finished off complacency and ignoring what these people have in mind for the whole of the offshore industry is frightening.
They will use any excuse to divert money onshore again

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78

Dominic

Guernseyman I am really glad you know what is happening in the outside World where people are lining up to bring more pressures on all the offshore areas at least this time we have a stronger Government than the last time when the OECD and Europe through the Treasury called all the shots.
Let us all hope America votes for the right man in the Presidential elections.
If you know so much about the Banking on the Island perhaps you could have reassured Grim Reaper that every thing in the garden is rosy and the horizon holds only good fortune even though there is a political will to look hard at all offshore areas.

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80

Fast Robert

I don’t think that Guernsey will lose much business over this. It still offers the same perks as before, as Stephen says. The people that wish to offshore their cash will still know that Guernsey runs a tighter ship than most.

The problem is with the local population and their respect for political and business authority. They seem to be the same entity.

‘Rationalising’ public services to fill black holes is the on-the-street reality. Sure, Guernsey is powerless to navigate it’s banking subsidiary enterprises away from the storms (yet more billions being proposed to quell the City and Wall Street addicts through their money market cold turkey) but it could do a lot more proper politics for normal people.

This is why I find Housing’s ‘new’ initiative (a begging bowl) to solve a core problem (a symptom of the laissez-faire) offensive in this current climate. Private enterprise looking after basic human needs has been proven to fail, regularly. What if the private company ‘owning’ housing rights folds? We cannot afford to take these risks.

Strong leadership is not about shouting at fellow deputies or slagging off our neighbours. It’s about taking responsibility on behalf of the electorate.

Who is looking after us?

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82

Dominic

On the 16th of October the European Voice recorded President Sarkozy saying Turning to the international scene, Sarkozy said that had been “unanimous support” for a “a re-making of the international financial system” which he called a “new Bretton Woods”, referring to the 1944 meeting that created the international institutions to supervise financial flows, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. “Europe doesn’t want the same causes and effects in future”, he said. “We don’t plan to start all over again.” there was agreement to hold an international summit on the issue, preferably in November. He said that he would raise the problem of tax havens. “If we provide banks with loans, can we have them working with tax havens?” he said. Sarkozy said he would discuss it with US President George W. Bush when he met him at Camp David on Saturday. “We will take message with us,” he said. “It’s a subject we’re going to put on the table.” It will be interesting to see how all these threats work out

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