New Zealand sets sights on Cayman’s fund business
(CNS): Following a number of reports over the last few months of offshore business leaving the Cayman Islands for other jurisdictions, according to an article in Bloomberg’s publication Business Week, New Zealand is about to enter the fund business and hopes to attract business from offshore centres such as the Cayman Islands. Cayman’s government has spoken at length over the past few months about increasing global competition from existing players but the antipodean nation presents a whole new front. New Zealand officials say they hope to exploit the country’s time zone to attract business.
According to Business Week, the Asia-Pacific region doesn’t have a hub for investment funds, opening the way for New Zealand to make its pitch as their legal home and also the site for fund accounting and administration. There hasn’t been a need for a regional centre because the industry has lacked critical mass in the region until recently, Commerce Minister Simon Power said.
“The domicile activities would also strengthen New Zealand’s funds-management industry andcapital markets and broaden the skill base of associated professional services,” he added.
The proposal was put forward in December by the Capital Market Development Taskforce, which was reviewing ways to make the nation’s markets more efficient and more attractive to investors. Government officials are working with some taskforce members to prepare an implementation plan by May 31, Power said.
Preliminary analysis is that some changes to tax and regulation may be needed, he said. Tax changes would aim to treat managed funds the same as other sectors of the economy, only taxing income earned in New Zealand or by New Zealand residents, he said.
Category: Business
I wouldnt panic about this if i was cayman:
1. me too strategies never work – you can imitate the original model, but those that know business know, cayman has stiffer competition in bermuda and other offshore jurisdictions
2. Cayman being in the same time Zone as NY is a huge advantage, Both london and NY have some overlap with cayman office, very little for NZL.
3. Cayman has no income taxes or complicated tax systems that will tax income earned locally etc Most funds appreciate the simplicity this provides
4. Weather – No more said,
5. the back of beyond enough said here too
6. if NZL is so great, why is it that Philipina and Indian accountants will travel half way accross the world to work in Cayman rather than stay in their own back yard? perhaps there is little diversity in NZL? who knows?
7. Friendly people from all over teh world, do not know what to expect in NZL
8. Cayman attracts investors from all over teh globe, because we have all the resources they need a one stop shop? One imagines the said ministers only heard about teh fund administration services.
9. Hong Kong and singarpore speak better investment language that NZL and have similar model to cayman and are better position to the asian markets.
the one thing i can say we will envy is your cricket and rugby team, both of which are top class, can you go back to being a province in australia and leave the financial services to the pro’s that know how to do the job and can party 11 months of the year on the beach…
Is that a photo of downtown Auckland? That could be a beach anywhere. Are you cheating CNS?
"Very sad-but that person has the only qualification that really matters-a Caymanian birth certificate." The mediocrity of the "suitably qualified" is a massive cost on doing business here. Cayman has turned offshore businesses into a social welfare system.
Work permit issues?
Kiwis 1 – Turtles 0
Bet the Kiwis don’t see eating Kiwis as part of their national heritage either!
No one should worry about this. It is all part of the ingenious long term strategy of Beloved Leader and ties in with secret plans involving ski resorts, an elephant ride theme park in West Bay and payments made to people in Dubai. Just wait and see. It will all become clear. Why else would he be travelling around the world at our expense almost all of the time?
Our government bought the New Zealand budget system with all the bells and whistles and we have not had an audited account since. A total unmitigated disaster of uncountable expense. Now they have targeted our fund business it seems.
Our success made us a target.
We really need to get back to basics and stop overcomplicating everything in government and falling for all the fancy talk and shiny gadgetry.
A fool and his money are soon parted. Once your financial stability is undermined, you are at the mercy of the wolves.
You’re ignorant of NZ’s reforms which have made it so competitive and have enabled it to pay off its national debt. We didn’t adopt their reforms unfortunately-we adopted at Cayman’s insistence a Caymanian version-and that of course is the problem, because the Caymanian version has to allow for the laziness, lack of committment and incompetence of the civil service in general and the Portfolio of Finance in particular. How many countries have a Chief Officer of Finance who is not even a CPA? Very sad-but that person has the only qualification that really matters-a Caymanian birth certificate.
Why should NZ not position themselves to steal our business? It’s a free world and they have massive advatages over us-including a terrific qualified motivated work force and an immigration policy not formulated in the Dark Ages.
Don’t forget — they are in the right time zone to service all the Asian funds.