24 Jul A strategic vision for Fintech from the state of Guernsey
Fintech is having a significant impact on the financial services market. Whilst some of this is a natural evolution of the industry, the current rate of change and hence the level of new opportunities is substantial. The UK, driven largely by London, is one of the fastest-growing regions for Fintech investment in the world. Guernsey’s close links with London, both as an international finance sector and geographically, mean that it is ideally placed to benefit from this Fintech growth.
The global growth in Fintech has been rapid and the sector is predicted to continue this strong pattern of growth.
Guernsey has considerable strengths which make it attractive to the Fintech sector, including:
- Established trust and credibility as an existing international finance sector
- Ability to be flexible and agile with laws and regulations - making it an ideal test bed
- No Capital Gains Tax and no VAT on capital expenditure.
- Access to capital including public listed vehicles
- Data sovereignty
- Island wide cyber protection
- Progressive company and intellectual property legislation
- Lifestyle and community
Key strategic opportunities identified in the following areas:
- Data and analytics
- Institutional Peer to Peer lending
- Payments - Treasury and foreign exchange
- Wealth management platforms
Whilst in general, Fintech is creating opportunities for the Island to expand the type of financial services or to access new markets, Fintech may also result in significant disruption of some existing financial services.
Their existing laws, regulations and expertise means that the Island is already an attractive location for Fintech. The island has significant established activity across the range of Fintech sectors.
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