29-07-2025
Jersey government in push to make finance sector more competitive
Jersey's external relations minister has warned the island's finance sector will decline if it does not become more comes after the government launched a new competitiveness strategy which it said would make it easier for businesses to operate in Ian Gorst warned it was vital for Jersey's economy to change to withstand geopolitical instability and Christensen, a former economic adviser to the government, cautioned against "any measure to compete against tax havens through deregulation".
Speaking at an event for industry leaders last week, Gorst said: "The major part of our economy is financial and professional service, and if that industry remains strong and grows, it means we will have tax take."It means we will have a strong economic future, if we let that industry decline and if we don't get on the front foot, and we aren't competing with Luxemburg, Singapore and Hong Kong, then our industry will decline."
Mr Christensen, who is also director of the Balanced Economy project, said: "We are reaching the stage at which democracy itself is at risk of collapse and we are moving into the territory of authoritarian regimes."So any measure to compete against other tax havens by deregulating and by lowering tax will only and inevitably benefit the very powerful and the very rich."
Jill Britton, director-general of the Jersey Financial Services Commission, acknowledged Jersey was competing in a complex global situation."There is an international set of standards for many international organisations," she said."That's happening is across the different regions is there is a wholesale review of those standards, which means the standards internationally as we have known them are not being applied in the same way."We are having to respond very quickly to that level of complexity."
