Thursday 20 April 2017

Malta is the place to be, apparently

Yeah, Malta. 'Malta?! Who says, boss?' The PR people. 'Oh, I should have guessed. You can't believe everything they say. Or anything.' What?! Why not? 'They're PR people.' Shut up, Voice! You know nothing about it. They're very kindly supplying me with "news" while my ribs are bad. / Anyway ...

New research by Managing Partners Group (MPG), the international asset management group, shows more than 7 in 10 (73%) institutional investors believe Brexit will be 'hard', including 29% who believe it will be 'very hard'.

You see? 'Er, no, not really. There's no mention of Malta, man.' Christ! Look at this, you idiot! -

82% believe Brexit will lead to a rise in the number of UK financial services firms setting up subsidiary offices in the EU.

44% believe that UK asset managers specifically will probably get to passport their funds into the EU after Brexit, around 30% believe this will not happen.

The most important considerations for those UK companies looking to set up another operation elsewhere include a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework (78%), followed by the tax regime (52%) and economic stability (42%).


You see, Voice? 'There's no mention of Malta, boss!' Jesus H. - !!! Jeremy Leach says Malta is the place to be, and I believe him. 'Who?!' Jeremy Leach. We've had him on before. 'Oh.' He's the CEO of MPG. 'Okay.' Bloody hell!

Jeremy Leach, Chief Executive Officer at MPG, commented: "Although a sizeable minority in our survey believe UK asset managers will be able to passport their funds in the EU after Brexit I think this will be unlikely - current members of the European Economic Area such as Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Norway do not have this privilege. As such, many asset managers and other UK financial services companies will look to establish a secondary entity somewhere in Europe post-Brexit and Malta should certainly be on the list of serious options."

You see, you fucking idiot?! Malta is one of the serious options. 'All right, all right. You've made your point, boss.' And Kenny Farrugia agrees with our Jeremy. 'Who?!' Kenny Farrugia.

Kenneth Farrugia, Chairman of Finance Malta, commented: "Malta's proposition as an international financial centre has continued to enjoy momentum, as evidenced by the sustained growth experienced in 2016 and the conduit of international business operations currently seeking an investment services licence through the Malta Financial Services Authority. This success of Malta's financial services industry has been driven by a number of factors, including the presence of a comprehensive regulatory legal and framework, the work ethos and skills of the human resources in Malta, the accessibility to the Regulator and its pro-business approach, Malta's cost competitiveness as well as political and economic stability."

You see? 'Yeah. Kenneth Farrugia.' Yeah, our Kenny. Whatever. 'And what does Joe Portelli say?' Ha, ha. I've no idea. Who the hell is Joe Portelli? 'Uh, Christ.' Ha!

...

Well, well ... it's the end of the week, dear reader(s), thank God! And, yeah, yeah ... my ribs are still hurting.

I've been playing my guitar for half an hour a day. I can't risk more until I'm feeling better.

Never mind. I'm staying positive. 'Great!' God is on my side. I'm utterly convinced.

Later(s), crocodile(s).