Jersey to seek more money for finance industry

Jersey Finance is to ask for £5 million in the budget to spend over the next three years to research and to promote the island’s finance industry abroad.

Jersey Finance, the promotional and information arm of the island’s finance industry, says that if the scheme is successful it will pay for itself over a period of five years in extra employment and increased tax revenue.

Jersey Finance is particularly interested in business from the Far East, the Gulf, Scandinavia and Brazil, where Jersey Finance is examining the possibility of opening an office in S. Paolo. At present Jersey Finance has offices in Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Mumbai and Delhi.

Jersey Finance has said that four Chinese banks are expected to apply to open branches in Jersey in the near future, although there is no indication of how many local jobs that may generate.

According to the 2012 Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) Jersey has moved into the list of the world’s top 20 global financial centres (up from 21 last year). It is also the highest-rated offshore jurisdiction according to the GFCI, putting it ahead of Guernsey and the Isle of Man.