The new office will be headed by Gibraltar-born Michael Cubin who after schooling here spent several years studying in Israel and who switched from a successful career in IT to banking four years ago.   

“Gibraltar has great potential for further growth and we anticipate that in the not too distant future we will establish an even stronger presence,” Julian Winser, CEO of Schroders in the Channel Islands, says. Winser with Nick Bennett (who for the past ten years has been the Guernsey-based briefcase banker to Gibraltar ’s wealthy
clients of the bank and other international clients with financial and other local investment links) visited the Rock early in October to set up the new office.     

 
“After doing business through Gibraltar for ten years — and with Nick visiting the Rock more and more frequently — for a host of reasons it got to the point where it makes sense to have a representative here on a permanent basis,”Winser explains. “To an extent in
the past our business in Gibraltar has been transactional rather than relationship driven but there are growing opportunities to do more and more annuity business and there has also been a shift in the way that we are perceived.   

Pessimists who a decade ago predicted that offshore financial jurisdictions were dying off and had no future were clearly wrong as Gibraltar’s growth and strength has proved while the tightening of regulations here has enhanced the Rock’s reputation.   

“As Financial Services Commissioner, Marcus Killick has done really well — not only in terms of the regulatory reputation of the jurisdiction but in creating a climate in which accessibility and quicker decisions also play a part,” Winser says. “Another major factor both in Gibraltar ’s success and in our decision to establish a firmer foothold here is the high quality of the intermediaries here — the lawyers accountants and financial service
providers — with whom we have to work. They compare with those in any other jurisdictions… not only offshore but in the bigger financial centres of the world. And they have an international capacity and capability which is important to our international clients.   
“They have all been hugely positive in their reaction to our opening here,” he added.