Johns: ‘more foundations likely’
First raft of
foundations
under Jersey’s
new legislation
The first foundations have
been incorporated in
Jersey under the island’s
new legislation.
Five were established
on 17 July, the day the
rules came into force.
Equity Trust, the global
trust and fiduciary services
company, and Mourant
du Feu & Jeune, the offshore
law firm, were
both involved in incorporating
and advising on the
first foundations created
last month.
Iain Johns, head of
private clients for Equity
Trust, said: “We have
presented road shows
in Moscow, Geneva and
London and as a result
we are receiving further
instructions to incorporate
foundations, as well as to
migrate foundations from
other jurisdictions.”
Currently, Panama and
Liechtenstein also offer
offshore foundation structures
and Johns said it was
from these jurisdictions
he expected most transfer
business would come.
Jersey is the first of the
three Crown Dependencies
to introduce foundations.
The Isle of Man and
Guernsey are also thought
to be keen to follow suit.
Foundations play a similar
role to trusts and are
likely to be mainly used
as vehicles for holding and
protecting family assets and
inheritance planning, with
clients most likely to come
from civil law countries,
where trusts are not accepted
legal structures.
NEWS
Hong Kong banks in pledge
to buy Lehman mini-bonds
Sixteen Hong Kong banks
will spend more than
hk$6bn buying back Lehman
Brothers mini-bonds
from eligible customers.
The announcement by
Hong Kong’s Securities and
Future Commission (SFC)
and Hong Kong Monetary
Authority (HKMA) is seen as
marking a possible beginning
of the end to a more
than ten-month saga that
has affected around 29,000
Hong Kong investors.
As part of the agreement,
the SFC will discontinue
its investigations into
the sale and distribution of
mini-bonds by the banks,
according to a statement by
the SFC and the HKMA.
Proprietary fund platform launched by DeVere
DeVere & Partners has
developed a proprietary
fund platform, giving its
advisers and clients access
to some 5,000 funds from
over 200 fund houses.
Until now DeVere, like
many offshore advisory
businesses, has predominantly
used portfolio bonds
and savings plans from
international life insurers
as a wrapper for clients’
investments. Among the
reasons for this is that they
serve as a fund platform in
their own right and pro-
Dozen countries sign seven TIEAs deals
Twelve countries announced
the signing of seven
tax information exchange
agreements (TIEAs) in July,
as the global move towards
greater tax transparency
continued.
Among the most recent
TIEA signings were agreements
between New
Zealand and the Isle of Man
(IoM), Jersey and Guernsey.
These brought Jersey’s and
the IoM’s TIEA count to
15 apiece and Guernsey’s
to 14 – of which more
With some exceptions,
professional investors, corporate
and non-individual
investors and experienced
investors will not
be eligible for the buyback
scheme, nor will those customers
who have previously
settled mini-bond claims
with these banks.
The 16 banks that sold
the Lehman mini-bonds
will repurchase them at a
vide administration and
reporting services.
Nigel Green, chief executive
of the IFA firm, which
has more than 350 advisers
based in 40 countries,
said he was encouraging
all advisers to use the new
platform.
Whether DeVere’s platform
will see it make less
use of life company products
remains to be seen.
A deal has already been
put in place with Friends
Provident International
(FPI) that allows DeVere
than 12 in all three cases
are with member states
of the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD).
A week or so earlier,
the UK signed a TIEA
with Anguilla, and before
that, the Netherlands
agreed a pact with the
Cayman Islands, Germany
agreed to exchange tax
data with Bermuda, and
Belgium signed a TIEA
with Monaco.
The OECD has set 12
price equal to 60% of the
nominal value of the original
investment for customers
below age 65, or 70%
of the value for those over
that age as at 1 July, 2009.
Once the underlying
collateral is recovered and
paid to the banks, each of
them will make a further
payment of initially up to
10% of the nominal value
of the mini-bonds.
ThE 16 hoNg koNg BaNkS
ABN Amro; Bank of China (Hong Kong); Bank of Communications
Co; Bank of East Asia; Chiyu Banking Corporation; Chong Hing
Bank; CITIC Ka Wah Bank; Dah Sing Bank; Fubon Bank (Hong
Kong); Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia); Mevas Bank
Nanyang Commercial Bank; Public Bank (Hong Kong); Shanghai
Commercial Bank; Wing Hang Bank; Wing Lung Bank
advisers to use the platform
in conjunction with
its portfolio bond, and
negotiations with Skandia
for a similar arrangement
have begun.
The system, designed
by Singapore-based Boston
Funds Direct, generates
commission every time a
fund transaction is made,
though the level is capped
at 4% by DeVere.
Fees on the funds
vary, with more than 300
having no annual management
charge.
TIEAs with what a spokesman
for the organisation
referred to as “significant
countries” as the minimum
necessary for a jurisdiction
to be regarded as having
“substantially implemented”
its standard for the
exchange of tax information,
and thus guaranteeing
it a place on its so-called
“white list”.
Some 45 TIEAs have
been signed so far in 2009,
the same number agreed
between 2000 and 2008.
NEWS
Headline over two please
Head
over two
IN BRIEF
IA to hold inaugural
Gulf advisers forum
Gulf-based advisers and
wealth managers are
invited to attend a free
one-day forum held by
Int’l Adviser on 19 Nov
at the Shangri-la Hotel
in Dubai. The event
will include informal
discussion sessions and
presentations in which
the latest economic
and market trends and
portfolio construction
ideas will be discussed.
emily.proctor@
lastwordmedia.com
InterGlobal launches
two health plans
InterGlobal has two
new health insurance
plans to provide
comprehensive
protection to students
studying abroad for
less than £40 ($60)
a month. The plans are
available individually
or as group schemes.
www.interglobalpmi.
com
RL360° appoints
Coleman and Leggett
Royal London 360˚ has
named Tim Coleman
and Andrew Leggett
international sales
managers for the UK
market. Coleman
will be responsible
for the London area,
while Leggett will be
involved in building
relationships with IFAs.
BoS Int’l unveils third
issue of deposit fund
Bank of Scotland Int’l
has launched a third
issue of its five-year,
sterling structured
deposit product,
Portfolio Plus Issue
Three.
www.bankofscotland
international.com
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 5
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