Jersey’s positive role in helping to drive forward and shape the international transparency landscape has been praised by a senior OECD tax expert at this year’s Jersey Finance Annual London Private Client Conference.
Addressing an audience of more than 400 senior private client tax, trust and wealth management professionals at the event, held at 8 Northumberland Avenue on 13 May and entitled ‘Mapping the Future’, Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the OECD Center for Tax Policy and Administration, highlighted the “tremendous job Jersey has done contributing to the international tax agenda”.
Emphasising the complexities for jurisdictions and firms now there are multiple models in place for information exchange, he added:
- “It is important to recognise the role of small jurisdictions in the work we are doing. We aim to deliver a level playing field for all jurisdictions and Jersey was one of the best and first in grabbing this opportunity to shape the agenda.”
Meanwhile, during two panel sessions at the conference, which is now one of the largest dedicated private client conferences in London, panellists referred to the introduction of the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS), which will come into play in the UK as from 1 January 2016, as a “quantum leap” for firms, suggesting that there is real potential for greater market share for jurisdictions like Jersey that have already made the investment in meeting and exceeding global standards.
In a warning to the wealth management sector, panellists also suggested that although jurisdictions like Jersey had done all they could to provide a framework for effective information exchange, it was now up to firms to make sure they had ability, expertise and technology to make sure this worked in practice and that information was accurate.
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