Offshore
What Counts In Choosing An Offshore Jurisdiction
What are the trends that I am seeing?
The trends that I see are, of course, influenced by the clients I
act for, so I can only speak of what I see around me. In my
experience and from speaking to immediate colleagues, we see the
following trends:
1. Clients are looking for more simple
structures;
2. Clients are concerned about the portability
of their structures;
3. For EU clients at least, some excellent
jurisdictions such as the Channel Islands cause some to write
them off on account of how their home jurisdictions might react
to them;
4. There is a move by clients to onshore their
structures to jurisdictions in the EU or if they are from Asia,
to Singapore;
5. Clients are more concerned about proximity
to their fiduciary provider;
6. Clients are more open to corporate entities
rather than trusts to hold their assets;
7. Clients are more concerned about meeting the
substance requirements;
8. Clients are more concerned about the
technical abilities and expertise of the fiduciary
provider;
9. Clients, especially if they are the
beneficiaries, are concerned with costs;
10. Clients do not want to attract unnecessary
interest from the tax inspector and are more concerned by the
reach of the tax authorities; and
11. Jurisdictions are learning to become centres of
excellence in certain service lines rather than trying to offer
solutions to all.
Which offshore jurisdictions are charging further
ahead
Given the relentless push from certain corners, offshore
jurisdictions continue to be under the spotlight. For some of
those jurisdictions, the last few years have been very difficult
as they are targeted for allegedly not meeting global standards.
It appears that the offshore jurisdictions that will succeed are those that:
1. Can manage and navigate the ever growing
compliance requirements;
2. are agile and able to diversify;
3. can focus on a particular service line and
excel at that (centres of excellence), be it funds, or insurance
or even in relation to jurisdictional onward investment;
and
4. can offer substance where required.
