Chief Minister welcomes the Lord Mayor of London
The Chief Minister of Guernsey has welcomed today’s visit to Guernsey of the Rt Hon Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Nick Anstee, and his delegation.
The Lord Mayor and the Chief Minister – joined by relevant Ministers, civil servants and representatives of Guernsey’s business community – have discussed a wide range of mutually important issues including Guernsey’s strong relationship with the City of London; tax transparency; the ongoing review of the corporate tax regime; and working with emerging markets such as China.
The Chief Minister said:
“I am delighted to welcome the Lord Mayor and his delegation to Guernsey. There are extremely strong and mutually beneficial ties between Guernsey and the City of London, as the UK Government’s Foot Review confirmed in October last year. This visit has helped to strengthen those ties and to develop new opportunities to work together in the future.”
The Lord Mayor’s visit has included briefings with GuernseyFinance, the Chamber of Commerce and the Institute of Directors, as well as visits to Guernsey businesses and the Channel Islands Stock Exchange.
The visit comes on a day when UK Parliamentarians have lauded Guernsey’s contribution to the UK economy, as well as its fiscal prudence, transparency and robust regulation. Speaking in a debate in the House of Commons earlier today, Conservative MP Mark Field set out how Guernsey not only helped the UK fight off the worst aspects of the global recession through the two financial centres’ business links, but how as an international finance centre it was also helping developing countries expand their economies.
In response to Mr Field’s speech, Treasury Minister Mark Hoban MP – the Financial Secretary to the Treasury – acknowledged the importance of Guernsey and other Crown Dependencies’ business links to the UK, and described them as “important mechanisms for providing funding to the City of London”. He also congratulated international finance centres like Guernsey for having “substantially implemented international standards on tax transparency.”
Deputy Trott commented:
“We have ensured that both the Minister and Mr Field have been briefed and updated on Guernsey’s exemplary role in the global economy, as well as our important and transparent role in sustaining the City of London’s economy. I am pleased that the new UK Government also recognises this, and has reinforced the findings of last year’s Foot Review.”