Isle Of Man

Political And Economic Stability

A thousand years of political and economic stability and the oldest continuous Parliament in the world, Tynwald, have made this 'jewel of an isle' an outstanding location for international finance. The Isle of Man was the first offshore centre to be granted Designated Territory status under Section 130 of the United Kingdom's Financial Services Act 1986. In order to achieve this, the island had to demonstrate that the laws under which insurance companies are authorised and supervised afford adequate protection to policyholders against the risk that companies may be unable to meet their liabilities. The fact that the Isle of Man holds this status reflects its high standards of regulation and protection.

Policyholder Protection

For life assurance companies, the Isle of Man has the only statutory compensation scheme offered by any offshore financial centre. The Life Assurance (Compensation of Policyholders) Regulations 1991 provide up to 90% of an insurer's liability to the policyholder - in the unlikely event that a local insurance company should become unable to meet its obligations. This legislation is as protective as its United Kingdom equivalent.

Supervision

Further legislation, the Insurance Act 1986, ensures that all Isle of Man-based insurance companies are managed by fit and proper people with relevant qualifications and experience, and have sufficient financial resources to transact business at all times. All insurance companies are increasingly accountable to the government. The quality of supervision is almost certainly unsurpassed by any other offshore jurisdiction.

Regulation

In late 2003, the International Monetary Fund completed a comprehensive assessment of the Isle of Man's regulation of financial services, which commended the island on its high standards.

"The jurisdiction has a high level of compliance with all of the standards against which it was assessed", says the IMF report. "The authorities are to be commended for the attention they have given to upgrading the financial regulatory and supervisory system to meet international standards in banking, insurance, securities and anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, and the introduction of a comprehensive regime for the licensing of corporate service providers".

Alan Bell, Minister for the Treasury at the Isle of Man Government commented: "This is another clean bill of health for the Isle of Man from a major international organisation. Combined with our planned move to a zero rate of income tax for companies in 2006, and our AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's and Moody's, it reinforces confidence in the Isle of Man as a secure yet highly competitive base for global business".