Over 100 members and other practitioners attended the recent Isle of Man Captive Association (IOMCA) Spring 2013 Educational Seminar at the Villa Marina in Douglas, sponsored jointly by Barclays Wealth and Investment Management and KPMG.
The seminar highlighted the sector’s continuing success, with industry experts discussing developments in the economic, legislative and regulatory climates to ensure key stakeholders are up to date with topical issues of interest and relevance.
The event, co-ordinated by IOMCA Executive Committee member Mark Willis, and featuring a range of presenters from organisations including Barclays and KPMG, was opened by Chief Executive of the Isle of Man Insurance and Pensions Authority, David Vick, who provided regulatory and legislative updates.
David Vick, Chief Executive of the IPA spoke about the differences in the International Insurance Association between October 2011 and today. The progression areas he identified were capital adequacy and solvency, enterprise risk management and regulatory reporting. He also highlighted the need for an industry-wide road map with further discussion on key changes.
Simon Nicholas, Director, KPMG then introduced sessions from KPMG colleagues Sandra Skuszka, Kevin Loundes, Jenny Trimble and Sinead O’Connor. Topics covered included possible changes to the VAT exemption for insurance related services, updates on relevant international tax issues - in particular an overview of the new UK CFC regime, the launch of FRS102 and a high level overview of the forthcoming Isle of Man Bribery Act and relevant potential impact. Accountancy updates covered changes to the reporting landscapes - whether a company prepares financial statements under UK GAAP or IFRS, preparation for transition to the “new UK GAAP” and key decisions to be made by companies as to the route they wish to take, and thoughts around uncertainty in insurance accounting for IFRS.
In the final session of the morning, Kevin Walmsley, Vice President at Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, gave a presentation about using Trusts as an alternative to Letters of Credit and the differences between Standby Letters of Credit (SBLoC) and STAs (Security Trust Arrangements).
Over lunch, Kevin Gardiner, Managing Director and Head of Investment Strategy at Barclays Wealth and Investment Management shared with guests his thoughts about the future economic landscape and the likely performance of global markets.
Carol Stevens, Deputy Chair IOMCA commented: “Once again the IOMCA’s Spring Seminar has attracted great interest and the highest quality of insightful and informative presentations. We would like to thank Barclays and KPMG for their continuing support of the Isle of Man Captive Association and captive sector as a whole in its ongoing success for the Isle of Man. We are truly differentiated by the close quality working relationships we have with key stakeholders – government, regulators and business owners, and look forward to developing the sector further in the future, a true demonstration of the Isle of Man’s ‘where you can’ ethos.”
Photograph: (l to r) Kevin Gardiner, Managing Director and Head of Investment Strategy at Barclays Wealth and Investment Management. Mark Willis, Assistant Vice President, Barclays Captive Team. Kevin Walmsley, Vice President at Barclays Wealth and Investment Management
Jenny Trimble, Senior Manager – audit, KPMG. Sinead O’Connor, Senior Manager – regulatory and advisory, KPMG. Carol Stevens, Deputy Chair, Isle of Man Captive Association. Steve Clarke - Director, Barclays Isle of Man. Kevin Loundes, Manager – tax, KPMG. Sandra Skuszka, Head of VAT Services, KPMG. Simon Nicholas, Director, KPMG.
