The Isle of Man has been praised for its high standards of compliance and transparency by the boss of a professional body representing company secretaries and administrators.

London-based Simon Osborne accused the UK of ’a degree of hypocrisy’ over the issue.

Mr Osborne, chief executive of the ICSA: The Governance Institute, told Business News: ’I think the standards that are applied here go beyond what has been achieved in the UK.’

Mr Osborne added that he feels the island is ’an easy soft target for politicians looking for a sound bite.

’And I’m afraid the media in the UK is all too fond of including photographs of luxury yachts when there is a story about compliance issues, beneficial ownership issues.

’I think the standards are much higher in the Isle of Man.’

Mr Osborne was speaking to Business News with Christine Clucas, chairman of the island branch of the ICSA.

They said the regulation of financial services has never been more important and many company secretaries and administrators are working hard to ensure the island’s reputation on the international stage.

They spoke as the local branch prepares for its conference on Wednesday, May 10 at the Sefton Hotel, Douglas.

Mr Osborne and Mrs Clucas say their members are very much at the vanguard of compliance and transparency matters.

A fascinating line-up ofspeakers are on the agenda at next week’s conference.

Mrs Clucas said: ’We have quite a vibrant branch.’

A keynote address will be by Chris Hodge, policy consultant at the ICSA and former director of corporate governance at the Financial Reporting Council.

He will be discussing the UK Government’s review of corporate governance as it seeks to crack down on boardroom excess and rebuild trust in business

Dennis Tourish, professor of leadership and organisation studies, Royal Holloway, University of London,is scheduled to be speaking on the subject of dysfunctional leadership in organisations.

Paul Heckles, an expert on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism as a consultant at the Isle of Man Government Cabinet Office, will also be among the speakers.

He will provide a Moneyval update. and there willbe a look at the most recent Moneyval assessment on the island including areas of special interest and the chosen industries identified by the assessors for further evaluation.

important

Mrs Clucas said: ’The regulation of financial services is more important than ever and ensuring that the Isle of Man is in line with current anti-money laundering measures is a key priority for the Isle of Man Government.

She told Business News: ’The Isle of Man government is very busy working with industry at the moment to put in place any improvements that were required under the Moneyval evaluation.

’Obviously the Isle of Man wants to take its place on the international field and must be seen to be compliant with anti-money laundering etc.

’And this is where the company secretary can play a very useful and key role.’

Mr Osborne said: ’That is important, the reputation of the Isle of Man and other international centres.’

Mrs Clucas referred to the words of former chief minister Allan Bell who said reputation was incredibly important for the Isle of Man.

She said: ’AllanBell stood up inWestminster and said to the UK: ’’We have stepped up to the plate. You do your bit now.’’

’Obviously there is a delicate balancing act between making sure the Isle of Man meets its international obligations and is seen to be, not necessarily a leader, but to adhere to what it should do, but also to bear in mind that [the finance] industry must not be bogged down with bureaucracy.’

standards

Mr Osborne said: ’I think the standards that are applied here go beyond what has beenachieved in the UK. I think there is a degree of hypocrisy.

’I just feel they are an easy soft target for politicians looking for a sound bite. And I’m afraid the media in the UK is all too fond of including photographs of luxury yachts when there is a story about compliance issues, beneficial ownership issues’ .

Mr Osborne said the example he likes to cite refers to an occasion when he once needed to form a new subsidiary company in the UK.

He said that in ’under an hour that company had been incorporated with me and my finance director as the two directors.

’You could not achieve that here in the Isle of Man, or in Jersey and Guernsey and plenty of other jurisdictions - you could not achieve that speed of incorporation. [But]in the UK [it was] no questions asked.

’There was no checking. I could have been Joe Soap masquerading as Simon Osborne and an identity thief could have done that, no trouble at all.

’In the Isle of Man you have to go more than the extra mile in order to demonstrate that you have a good business reputation.’

easy target

Mrs Clucas, who works for the Treasury department, said: ’We are an easy target. Our politicians have done a lot of work working with the politicians and Westminster to educate them a little more about the true state of the Isle of Man.’

Mr Osborne added that he did not know what the economic impact would be if the flow of funds from the Isle of Man into the UK was to dry up.

’But I would suspect that it would be a substantial sum of money and I suspect that quite a lot of jobs numbering thousands in the UK are dependent on those legitimate funds into the UK financial markets.

’And it is our members who are contributing here, who are making sure the standards of governance and compliance are maintained.’

election

Mr Osborne and Mrs Clucas were speaking to Business News shortly after the UK general election had been called.

He said it could become an election issue - ’but you never know from one day to the next .

’It’s said a day is a long time in politics, anything could happen there.

’But I think a bigger issue would be any fall out from the corporate governnance green paper.

’The UK government’s response to that is now that it is going to be put on ice pending the outcome of the election.

’We shall see what flows from that.’

Mr Osborne said it is going to be important to maintain good standards of governance during the Brexit debate.

Mr Osborne told Business News: ’Accountants are good business people, there is no doubt about that.’

vibrant

Mr Osborne and Mrs Clucas said the ICSA’s local branch was ’vibrant’ and there was a good mix of members of all ages and backgrounds.

Members included people who had changed careers in the middle of their working life.

There was also a healthy number of people working in the island who were also classed as ICSA students studying in their own time to attain high professional standards.

Other speakers at the conference, which is not justopen to ICSA members, include Caren Pegg, partner, disoute resolutions, at Appleby in Athol Street, Douglas.

She will be speaking on the future of work in the digital age.

Steve Billinghurst, advisory director, PwC, will be demonstrating how firms can apply, measure and manage risk effectively across an entire business.

decision making

Dr Dina Gray, strategic business consultant; visiting fellow, Cranfield University and author, will be considering how mindfulness can help simplify decision making and make management of board dynamics more effective.

Peter Swabey, policy and research director atthe ICSA, is due to speak on the art of minute taking and new ICSA guidance on this.

The conference starts at 8.30am with registration and is a key event for the local branch.

Places can be booked online at icsa.org.uk/iomconf17

ICSA: The Governance Institute chief executive Simon Osborne and island branch chairman Christine Clucas