Firms in limbo
as UAE calls
halt on issuing
life licences
by Daniel JuDge
The UAE regulator is
believed to have imposed
a ban on the issuance of
new life insurance licences,
leaving companies that
have lodged applications
such as Royal London 360º
and Skandia in limbo.
The most recent international
life insurer to receive
a licence was Generali
International, which was
granted approval to carry
out life insurance business
in the UAE in April.
The company has now
hired Derek Gemmell, who
was formerly with Skandia
as their Dubai-based
regional sales manager, as
director for the Middle East
and Africa.
He will continue to be
based in Dubai and will
serve the expat market,
although Generali also has
plans to develop Takaful
insurance products that
comply with Islamic law
and will seek to have other
products approved by the
regulator, the Ministry of
the Economy.
Meanwhile, Skandia,
continues to wait to receive
its licence to operate as an
insurer in the UAE.
Royal London 360º is
also awaiting a branch
licence, although it has a
separate UAE life insurance
licence.
Generali joins Friends
Provident International and
Zurich, which are currently
the only three offshore
insurers to have the full
UAE licence.
Why?
It is not clear why the
moratorium on new licences
has been imposed. Some
commentators suggest that
mounting complaints about
the way life policies are sold
may be the cause. The UAE
regulator was unavailable
for comment.
HMRC NDO offshore bank
probe ‘may net over £1bn’
by Helen burggraf
HM Revenue & Customs’
latest probe into tax evasion
through offshore bank
accounts could net more
than £1bn, according to a
leading expert.
Andrew Watt, managing
director of tax disputes and
investigations at Alvarez &
Marsal Taxand and a former
HMRC investigator, said the
scale of the New Disclosure
Opportunity (NDO) was
unprecedented.
The NDO is understood
to be targeting some 100,000
offshore investors through
more than 500 UK and
foreign banks and building
societies, some of whose
clients HMRC believes
The Isle of Man government
has appointed a
three-man committee to
look into the collapse of the
Manx branch of Icelandic
bank Kaupthing Singer &
Friedlander last October.
The announcement followed
months of calls by
depositors in the stricken
bank for an investigation.
In particular, the depositors
have sought an expla-
are using offshore bank
accounts to evade tax.
Unlike a 2007 scheme,
which raised only around
£400m for HMRC, it
is likely the NDO will
raise “upwards of £1bn”
in tax receipts, according
to Watt.
HMRC said that once the
NEWS
“disclosure window” closes
on 12 March, 2010 tax
dodgers “will face penalties
of at least 30% rising to
100% of the tax evaded,” in
addition to running a risk
of criminal prosecution.
Under the NDO, taxpayers
who make a complete
disclosure of unpaid liabilities
between 1 Sept, 2009
and 12 March, 2010 will
qualify for a 10% penalty.
But those taxpayers
to whom HMRC wrote in
2007 offering the 10% rate
but did not complete the
ODF procedure, and who
now want to disclose, “will
have an opportunity to do
so with unpaid tax attracting
a penalty of 20%”,
HMRC said.
Mystery surrounds status of Keydata Int’l
The trading status of Keydata
International, the sister
company of the failed UK
structured product specialist
Keydata Investment
Services, remains unclear
almost two months after
its sibling went into
administration.
The company’s website
has had the same message
– “currently being
updated... will be available
soon” – ever since 8
June, when the KIS administration
first emerged.
Phone calls to Mark Owen,
Keydata International’s
sales director, have not
been returned.
DIScloSuRE
n A “notification of the
intention to disclose” is
required between 1 Sept
and 30 Nov, with those
notifying electronically
rather than on paper able to
do so only after 1 Oct.
n Disclosures can be made
on paper from 1 Sept to 31
Jan, and electronically from
1 Oct to 12 March.
Isle of Man launches investigation into Kaupthing
nation for why £550m in
deposits was transferred
from Kaupthing’s IoM
branch to its UK operation
shortly before the parent
company’s failure.
The committee will
consist of John Houghton,
Juan Watterson and Eddie
Lowey, all elected representatives
of the IoM
parliament.
They will look into the
Owen, along with KIS
founder Stewart Ford, is
understood to be both
a principal of Keydata
International and Keydata
Investment Services, the
latter the subject of a
Serious Fraud Office investigation
into £100m of “questionable
assets”. Keydata
International is not believed
to be under investigation.
A spokeswoman for the
Cayman Islands Monetary
Authority confirmed that a
company named Keydata
International Fund SPC had
been authorised there since
4 Aug, 2008 but said she
could provide no further
causes behind the collapse
of the IoM branch, the role
of the island’s Financial
Supervision Commission
in protecting depositors’
funds; and the continued
suitability and adequacy
of the Depositors’
Compensation Scheme.
The public is being
invited to submit evidence
by 25 Sept.
See story on page 9.
Owen: not returning calls
details because of regulatory
obligations “to keep
information relating to the
affairs of authorised entities
confidential except in
specific situations which
are not applicable here”.
NEWS
IN BRIEF
IA Edinburgh Offshore
Bond Workshop
Int’l Adviser is holding
an Offshore Bond
Workshop for financial
advisers to learn
more about the tax
wrappers on 5 Nov at
the Balmoral Hotel in
Edinburgh. Space is
limited to 50 delegates,
with places offered on
a first-come, first-served
basis. Sponsorship
deals are also available
to life companies.
Contact emily.proctor@
lastwordmedia.com, or
+44(0)207 065 7561
FPI and ANZ strike
distribution deal
Friends Provident
Int’l has signed an
agreement with
the ANZ Banking
Group under which
the banking group
will distribute FPI’s
Global Portfolio single
premium insurance
bond product in
Singapore.
Correction: Armstrong
joins Canada Life Int’l
Mark Armstrong,
formerly of Axa Isle of
Man, has been named
head of operations
at Canada Life Int’l.
His surname was
incorrectly reported in
the July issue of IA as
Wilkinson.
Henry to assume MD
role at Investec Bank
Stephen Henry has
been named managing
director of Investec
Bank (Channel Islands),
the Guernsey-based
arm of Investec Private
Bank. Currently finance
director, he succeeds
Mort Mirghavameddin,
who is leaving the firm
after eight years.
For the current and all
previous editions, with
full news archive, go to
www.international-adviser.com
August 2009 [www.international-adviser.com] INtERNAtIONAL ADVIsER 11 3
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