Special Report on Guernsey

Special Report on Guernsey

ExpatMoneyChannel’s Hannah Beecham takes a trip to Guernsey to find out what the finance sector has to offer expats.

If you can drag yourself away from the picturesque harbour and fantastic scenery that Guernsey has to offer, then you will find a bustling finance centre that offers expatriates a range of financial products and services from simple deposits through to private banking. In addition, Guernsey regulators were pretty quick off the mark in introducing the necessary legislation for practitioners to offer Guernsey Qualified Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS), which is a suitable retirement option for many people who have a UK approved pension who are leaving or have already left the UK. One of the things that allowed Guernsey to get a head start in this area was that much of the necessary expertise needed to administer QROPS was already in place, plus the fact that Guernsey kept an open dialogue with HM Revenue and Customs to ensure that schemes complied with the rules - for such schemes to be labelled QROPS they have to be approved and registered with HM Revenue and Customs.

As well as becoming the current destination of choice for QROPS, Guernsey is also a well know domicile for funds, many of which will form a part of an expatriates investment portfolio. In terms of expat savings options the Landsbanki collapse affected confidence in Guernsey, although this has been shored up to some extent with the introduction of the Guernsey Banking Deposit Protection Scheme. However, like other centres both onshore and offshore, Guernsey has also suffered from the overall contraction in the banking sector, with Northern Rock Guernsey the most recent institution to announce it was closing for business in Guernsey. However, it remains a popular home for expat banking, particularly for high net worth expats.

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