Cities of London and Westminster MP Mark Field believes the island has great opportunities with its commitment to a diversified economy.

Mr Field said there was a great economic offering here in the business world.

The Tory MP, who is vice chairman for International Affairs of the Conservative Party, said he hopes he has been able to offer useful constructive advice to leading figures in the island over the last six years.

He said: ’And the island itself seems to be going from strength to strength. I don’t take credit for that but it is a good thing that it seems to be thriving and one of the great things about this small island is that it is nimble enough to adapt quickly to a changing situation.

’You don’t want to have a huge amount of change but to be able to plan. I think I have always been struck by the nimble approach of its [the Isle of Man’s] political and business leaders to be able to reap the benefits of the opportunities that arise.’

strong offering

Mr Field said that ’the Isle of Man in my view has a great strong offering.

’Economically it just needs to carry on doing what it does well in, with a quality bespoke offering and I’m always struck by the amount of repeat business here from people who have used the island in business and this is a reflection that the island is doing something right.’

’Asked if he sees himself as a friend of the Isle of Man he said: ’Yes, and that means making the case. [for the island.]

He added: ’There can be a little bit of disinformation about the Isle of Man . . . like is it just a tax haven? Well actually no.

’What it is is that you make the case [for the island] and there is a lot more to it than just meets the eye.

’It’s got financial services, it has investors from across the world.

’It is able to provide some much needed liquidity for the London markets, which. for example, was very important in 2009, and might be important if we head for another credit crunch.

’It has a more diverse economy than a lot of people might imagine.

’And there are great strengths .

’But also look at things like Fintech and the gaming industry, there are opportunities to develop from there.

’And there are opportunities in manufacturing that can link into companies in the north west of England.

’It is a fully functioning state with a democracy that is [something] to be proud of that even predates our own democracy inWestminster.

put back in the box

’Most MPs don’t turn their mind to the Isle of Man to a great degree because they are busy with their own constituency matters, so it is important that people [like me] are able to make the case and put back in the box people who are criticising it and reflect the reality.’

Former corporate lawyer Mr Field spoke to Business News on Friday at the Fort Anne offices of legal firm Cains. He said he has been an adviser to the company for the last six years. ’I’m able to advise them on financial services issues and strategic matters.

’And obviously at this juncture the big thing is Brexit and the issues around Brexit.’

During his visit to the island he had meetings with various people including new Chief Minister Howard Quayle and the Lieutenant Governor Sir Richard Gozney.

It was his first meeting with His Excellency and he said he was ’very impressed.’

great gusto

’I’ve got the sense that Sir Richard is very much enjoying the role, with great gusto.

’There is a sense, in a very positive way of a breath of fresh air to the Lieutenant Governorship.’

Mr Field said he was pleased Mr Quayle and members of his team visit the City of London, which is in his constituency, ’a fair bit.’

And he is pleased that the island has a continuing presence in the capital.

He said: ’There is important domestic work to be done in the island but equally in the context of the financial services deal that we are able to negotiate as part of Brexit, the Crown Dependencies’ voice is important.

’It is important to that extent that we see as many of the key figures in the Isle of Man in London on a regular basis.

’They have got to make common ground with MPs, those MPs interested in financial services, those interested in Fintech and other industries.

’MPs from the north west of England, both Tory and Labour I hope, but also with the Treasury and Ministry of Justice.’

beneficial owership

Mr Field moved on to the issue of beneficial ownership.

The Manx government is committed to introducing a central register of beneficial ownership but has resisted demands to have that register publicly accessible.

Last week Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton Dr Rupa Huq tabled an amendment to the Criminal Finances Bill that would force the Crown Dependencies to establish a public register - like that in the UK. But the new clause was defeated by 301 votes to 180. MPs said it would be wrong for Westminster to legislate for the Crown Dependencies.

Mr Field pointed out in the Commons: ’The Crown Dependencies are in a different legal and constitutional position. It would be entirely wrong for the government to railroad them.’

Speaking to Business News Mr Field said he was pleased the clause was defeated.

He said: ’The point was made and in fairness it was accepted by many Labour MPs as well that we have our own democratic institutions here in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey and it is not for Britain to impose its will in that regard.

’I’ve always tried to advise in my time with [former chief minister] Allan Bell and others here in the island that clearly there was a move towards a demand for more transparency in relation to beneficial ownership.

’It would be daft for the island not to be aware of that and in many ways it was time to take a lead. And the Isle of Man in particular was rightly regarded as having taken a lead in this regard.

’However I also think there is, and rightly should be, a distinction between secrecy on one hand and privacy on the other.

privacy

’People expect and have a right in my view to expect a certain amount of privacy about their data in banks.

’The distinction I think is between an open and a public register and to have a register whereby the tax authority and law enforcement [agencies] are able to have access to that in real time.

’I think that is something that is right and is something that should be aspired to.’

Mr Field said that there are pretty sophisticated registration systems in place here that ’actually bear very good comparison with the UK’.

The Conservative MP, first elected to the parliamentary seat nearest the House of Commons in 2001, was fullof praise for the island. He said with a population of 85,000 ’this jurisdiction is ahead of the game in making sure it has a well organised register.’

I asked Mr Field : ’Some people will argue that we are ahead of the UK in this regard?

He replied:’I don’t think there is any doubt about that.’

He said: ’There have been a lot of changes in regulations, particularly after the financial crash of 2008, in EU regulation, where actually on a lot of these issues to do with money laundering and being able to stand up to organised crime, the way it actually operated here in the Crown Dependencies was well ahead of the game compared to many EU nations who were lagging behind.’

Candid advice

Mr Field said he sensed the Isle of Man was ’in a good place’ having implemented some important changes.

Mr Field added it was important that the island had allies who could give ’candid’ advice on issues.

Mr Field said one of the great things the island could provide was that it offered a ’great bespoke offering’ in the business and economic world.

He pointed as examples to the growing areas of professional services, eGaming and Fintech. Fintech is basically financial technology. It is an industry comprising companies that use new technology and innovation with available resources to compete in the marketplace of traditional financial institutions and intermediaries in the delivery of financial services.

About the island economy and business Mr Field said: ’It’s always going to be a great bespoke offering and does not need to go down the route of being a big volume operator and nor should it want to be putting all its eggs into a single basket.

Mr Field said the variety of businesses here was good. ’The Fintech area is an intersting area where the shakedown of Brexit and indeed the shakedown of Donald Trump’s election in America might well provide some new opportunities and that’s got to be a good space for the island to be in.’

He added that some of the big operators in Silicon Valley might want to have more of a presence in Europe ’and the Isle of Man must be well placed .’