Changing times

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is James Featherstone, and I’ve taken over from the previous editor, Al Nightingale, who has, he assures us, gone on to Higher Things.

I take over the reins at a time when the offshore investment world is in a state of flux.

A clutch of international bodies, from the IMF to the OECD have been applying pressure on the offshore world over the last few years to make them comply with anti-money laundering and anti-tax evasion measures.

Most of that pressure has been just and laudable. Nobody needs to have it explained why money laundering is an evil to be fought.

But what about tax? For most people, doing business offshore is about tax efficiency – or ‘avoidance’, if we’re being un-squeemish about it. But there is both an acceptable and unacceptable side to that.

If you live and work outside your country of domicile, there has to exist some way of arranging your investment and tax affairs – taking full advantage, obviously, of any bit of tax efficiency that comes with it. On the other hand, straight tax evasion is unequivocally bad.

So what, you might think? I think I can get away with it, so I’ll give it a try. Well, be warned, that is becoming less and less true. The American and British tax authorities are getting more aggressive in their pursuit of tax evaders. For example, from now on, professional advisors dealing with British citizens are under obligation to report any suspected tax evasion to the Inland Revenue – the onus is on them to shop fiddlers. They are also not allowed to tell their clients they have done so, leading to the possibility that you could be under investigation without you knowing it.

Since Investment International is a consumer magazine that aims to look after the interests not of companies and the islands they locate on, but consumers – you, in other words – we are going to keep looking at these issues, making sure you’re aware of many things it is permittable to do, and, we hope, everything not permitted.

More widely, we’ll increase our efforts to keep you abreast of some of the general threats and opportunities you should be aware of. In this issue, for instance, industry expert Hugh Fasken investigates just how misleading offshore fund management companies can be if you don’t have your wits about you. Also, City journalist Tim Hyam finds out that global warming, of all things, is going to have a direct effect on your portfolio, whether you like it or not.

So as I pick up the II reins, let me wish you a happy new year: keep earning, keep investing, stay safe, and stay happy.

James Featherstone
Editor