26 January 2012
Mr Chairman, Ladies & Gentlemen,
Thank you for inviting me to speak today and for your warm welcome. I am delighted to be at the Jersey Finance annual lunch representing the Chief Minister. This is the first time that I have attended as a Senator and I look forward to working with all Jersey’s key industries as Assistant Chief Minster, with responsibility for external affairs.
2011 was an important year for political life in Jersey. We have a new Council of Ministers and a new system of scrutiny and I think that most of us feel that positive winds of change are blowing through the States chamber.
One thing has not changed, however, and that is the recognition of the importance of the financial services industry to Jersey, and of the valuable work done by Jersey Finance in promoting not only the interests of the industry but also the Island itself. The interests of the finance industry are not of course synonymous with the interests of Jersey and I hope there will equally be a recognition that politicians sometimes have to balance the interests of the finance industry with the broader interests of the community at large. Some of our noisy critics have in the past made accusations that the Government of Jersey is somehow in thrall to the finance industry. If it were true, that would be a very unhealthy state of affairs, and of course it is not at all the case. The fact that the Government of Jersey will want to support the finance industry if it can should not be mistaken for an indication that it always will. The first duty of Government is to protect the interests of the people as a whole.
This Government faces of course a number of serious challenges at home but my function involves the protection and the advancement of Jersey’s external interests. I should like to welcome to this event Steve Williams & Tom White from the Channel Islands Brussels Office who are in Jersey today. The Brussels office opened in April 2011 as a joint venture between the Governments of Jersey and Guernsey with a remit to promote the interests of the Channel Islands in Europe. The presence of the Brussels office is having a positive effect on Jersey’s profile in Europe and there is now a wider appreciation of our position as a cooperative and well regulated International Finance centre. The office is working closely with Government, regulators and the industry to ensure that the Channel Islands view point is conveyed in an effective way to key decision makers and opinion formers in Brussels. Our voice in Europe is now stronger that it has ever been before.
The next stage in promoting and protecting our external interests is likely to involve the opening of an office in London. The UK is of course our largest trading partner and relations with the UK Government are undoubtedly more important than any other political relationship. We need to invest rather more than we have in the past in that important relationship.
Jersey is continuing to sign Tax Information Exchange Agreements and double taxation agreements, the most recent being with Japan and India with others in the pipeline. The Indian TIEA is an important development establishing closer commercial ties with the sub-continent. The Government is please to have joined Jersey Finance on business development trips to India over the last few years.
May I conclude by recording my appreciation of the hard work done by a great many people but above all by Senator Philip Ozouf and former Senator Freddie Cohen, in securing certainty over Jersey’s 0-10 corporate taxation regime. As we all know, the approval of the EU code of conduct group was ratified by Ecofin at the end of last year and that decision has maintained Jersey’s tax neutral status which is a good start to 2012.
There are many reasons why we in Jersey should feel confident about the future, not withstanding all the economic storms. The Chief Minister and his colleagues will support the finance industry in every possible way. So far as our external affairs are concerned we have two broad objectives. The first is to be firm in the defence of Jersey’s, legitimate interests. Our stance on LVCR is consistent with that. But secondly, we want to develop a “charm” offensive and to explain ourselves to our trading partners more clearly and more robustly. There is far too much ignorant and misleading information abroad, and I see it as the task of the External Affairs Dept to dispel the myths so far as we can.
Thank you for your hospitality.
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