A REPORT acknowledging the contribution of offshore centres is yet more good news for the island, says GuernseyFinance chief executive Peter Niven.

The International Finance Centres and the World Economy report, commissioned by the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, found evidence that offshore centres aided financial development and stability in neighbouring countries.

Mr Niven (pictured) said that the report, written by US economist Professor James Hines Jr, made good reading and once again highlighted some commonly held misconceptions.

‘Professor Hines was a major speaker at the Step Asia conference in Singapore towards the end of last month, where Guernsey was the lead sponsor, and his paper was trailed at that event.

‘It is an authoritative work by a leading and well respected academic and so adds very much to the growing body of evidence which shows that contrary to commonly-held misconceptions, international finance centres are often a force for good and as the spotlight is always firmly on us, business that needs to remain in the shadows gravitates mainly to the major onshore jurisdictions.

‘This interestingly ties in with the Tax Justice Network’s recently published research on opacity in the world’s finance centres, where top of the list was the US state of Delaware – used by many companies and individuals as it has one of the laxest regulatory regimes in the world and if it were anywhere else but in the US it would have been shut down years ago.’