The annual International Monetary Fund Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey workshop for small economies with international financial centres (SEIFiCs) has been hosted in Guernsey by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. Guernsey is one of 67 jurisdictions which participate in the survey. Each year, banks, collective investment fund administrators, insurers, insurance managers and insurance intermediaries in Guernsey provide the Commission with information on the jurisdiction of issue of holdings of equity and debt investments. The Commission collates these statistics and transmits aggregated information to the IMF. The survey provides the IMF with a greater understanding of the global financial system and with a level of information on investment flows which should allow it to reduce the impact of any regional or global financial crisis.
John Joisce, Senior Economist, Statistics Department, International Monetary Fund said:
"The workshop proved a great success. Discussions centred around the role and significance of SEIFiCs in international financial markets, as well as exploring the nature of some of the more arcane features of several types of cross-border investment vehicles. For Guernsey, it is obvious that its financial services industry is a very important player on the world stage."
Peter Neville, Director General of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, said:
"I am extremely pleased that Guernsey was chosen by the IMF to host this SEIFiCs workshop. It was good to see representatives from jurisdictions around the world. As regulators we rely enormously on statistics and statistics are only valuable if they are well founded and properly interpreted. Making sure that they are is what this workshop was all about. The work of the IMF on investment flows is essential and extremely valuable. Our participation in IMF work such as this shows that Guernsey is treated as an equal with the major jurisdictions."
Contact:
Richard Walker
Deputy Director (Policy and International Affairs)
Guernsey Financial Services Commission
La Plaiderie Chambers
La Plaiderie
St Peter Port
Guernsey
Email: rwalker@gfsc.gg
Tel. + 44 1481 712706
Fax. + 44 1481 712010