Good news from the Channel Islands

Recent figures released from the Channel Islands show that the Crown Dependencies are enjoying a period of growth.

In particular, Jersey has released figures for the first quarter of 2010 which show that not only are bank deposits up (7.5% to £177.6 billion), but that the net asset value of funds being managed there grew to £180.5 billion over the first three months of this year.

Not only did the value or funds and bank accounts managed there increase, but the number of companies that were set up and funds that were opened grew too.

Commentators from the island said these figures were too early to define a trend, but they did show that Jersey had a promising start to the year. One trend however that could be identified was the growing popularity of Jersey as a financial centre for money that comes from the Far East.

Jersey’s neighbour Guernsey also had some positive news to share. Having released figures for the same period last month, the Guernsey finance industry claimed that the value of investment funds there rose by 7.2% to £197.4 billion.

Both islands (or strictly speaking both collections of islands) offer similar environments for low tax financial activity. Well established and well regulated, the two jurisdictions punch far above their weight in the world of international finance.

Guernsey spokesmen were also anxious not to infer too much from the figures, as since the end of March much has happened on the international stage that may affect the results for this quarter – stock market crises and oil spills may have taken their toll on June’s figures when they are announced.

Nevertheless, spokesmen for both countries have been positive overall about the gradual return of confidence, with Guernsey in particular having enjoyed three consecutive quarters of growth.

Can they make it four in a row? We won’t be able to tell until June’s figures are released in a couple of months’ time.