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During the 1990s, international banks increasingly recognised the importance of the growing middle sector of the market and saw their private banking departments as the area that could be extended and adapted to address this new segment. Karen Winter discusses the effects and needs arising this decade from the generational change among families with high levels of wealth and the steady growth in the number of family offices. An ever-increasing number of high net worth individuals are moving to the Caribbean, where offshore banking services are developing services to cater for and attract global commerce regardless of its domicile. Ryan Devaux provides an overview of the changing face of the region’s banking sector. Alan Greenspan, former US Federal Reserve Chairman, commenting on the development of financial tools, noted that “new instruments have enabled the largest banks, in their credit-granting roles, to divest themselves of much credit risk by passing it to institutions with far less leverage”. Frédéric-K. Dawance explores the burgeoning popularity behind credit derivatives. As global wealth continues to grow, so too do the variety of solutions available to private investors. But does such product innovation actually benefit the client or just the provider? Paul O’Donnell argues that in a world of increased opportunity, those who open themselves to new developments, have the greater potential to succeed. The offshore banking sector has long operated on the understanding of the value of the confidentiality ethic. In the case of offshore trusts, trustees have a well-established duty under orthodox trust law, to keep the affairs of the trust confidential. Yet this legal concept is coming increasingly under attack from various quarters such as the OECD and the US Internal Revenue Service. Rose-Marie Belle Antoine defends the legitimacy of financial confidentiality as a legal principle. All offshore trust structures established by US taxpayers must always be US tax compliant. The IRS has disclosed the fact that they are hiring agents specifically to review, among other issues, current offshore trust structures and to locate unreported offshore trust structures. Carl H. Linder provides an update on the current compliance requirements of the IRS. February’s jurisdictional update features Anguilla and Nevis. In Nevis, L. Burke Files provides an overview of the International Mutual Fund Ordinance. While in Anguilla, Harry Wiggin outlines the key features of the forthcoming Foundations Act and Carlyle K. Rogers looks at the advantages for a US broker launching an offshore fund for non-US clients. In Comment, our Editor-in-Chief, Charles A. Cain, discusses the ever-changing landscape of British politics. |
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