Senior Partners Peter Isola and the Hon. Albert Isola together with Partners, Steven Caetano, Christian Caetano, Jonathan Garcia and Stuart Dalmedo travelled to London in support of HM Government of Gibraltar and #GIBLDN2023.
The events begun with the now traditional Gibraltar Financial Services Lunch and continued over three days focusing on specific sectors including Insurance, DLT, Private Client and Funds & Asset Managers.
The Financial Services lunch was held, as in previous years, in the Old Library at the Guildhall. The previous Minister for Financial Services and Gaming, the Hon. Albert Isola, opened proceedings introducing the Hon. Nigel Feetham KC MP.
The Hon. Nigel Feetham KC MP announced that he would create a Digital Economic Council to “future-proof” the sector and would “harness local talent, facilitate access to technology and ignite innovation among budding entrepreneurs”.
The Minister went on to highlight the importance of the Gibraltar’s regulator which he called world-class and highlighted the Gibraltar Authorisation Regime (GAR), saying it is a vote of confidence on the part of the UK and not just about passporting rights.
The Insurance Breakfast and DLT Lunch was held on day two at One America Square.
The Minister for Trade and Industry, the Hon. Nigel Feetham KC MP, opened proceedings which included panel discussions covering each sector.
The Director General of the Association of British Insures, Hannah Gurga, stressed the importance insurance companies play in the fight against cyber-crime seeing this as the largest threat to business. Hannah also hosted a panel on women in the insurance sector.
Alexander Royle, Head of Compliance & Regulatory Affairs EMEA at Galaxy moderated the DLT panel discussion. He was joined by leading experts in this space; Dr Lisa Cameron MP, Chair All Party Parliamentary Group on Crypto and Digital Assets, Emma Joyce, CEO and Board Director at GBBC Digital Finance, Ian Taylor, KPMG Head of Crypto & Digital Assets and Targ Patience, Chair Gibraltar Association for New Technologies.
The panel considered the regulatory framework in the EU and how this could impact Gibraltar.
The events concluded on the third day with the Private Client Breakfast and Funds & Asset Managers Lunch held at the RAC on Pall Mall.
Opened once again by the Hon. Nigel Feetham KC MP the events brought together experts in both sectors.
Tom Burroughes, Group Editor at ClearView Financial Media and WealthBriefing moderated the Private Client panel discussion and was joined by John Pepin, Chief Executive, Philanthropy Impact, Peter Leach, advisor to UHNWIs and author of specialist books on family structures and Jo Bateson, Private Client Tax Partner at KPMG UK
The panel discussed the challenges families face today and the trends they are seeing and highlighted the use of Gibraltar Trusts and Foundations to collaborate and amplify philanthropic impact.
The final event of the three days was the Funds & Asset Managers Lunch where Jonathan Garcia’s (ISOLAS Funds Partner) guests, Diala Minott, Partner at Paul Hastings and Brendan Gallen, Partner, Investment Funds at Reed Smith discussed fund structuring, what needs to be taken into account, the importance of moving quickly with regulation and product, and where the opportunities lie for Gibraltar. They also touched on ESG issues and the challenges in this area. The panel was moderated by John Paul Fa, Policy Lead /Crown Counsel at the Ministry of Digital and Financial Services, HM Government of Gibraltar.
This was followed by a second panel discussion where Alistair Crabbe, Editor of The Alternative Investor Publication and James Stewart, Tax Partner at PwC considered the growing trend in funds and the opportunities for Gibraltar around tokenisation.
Each of the events provided an opportunity for our team to connect with our clients and industry leaders, so further strengthening our ties with the City of London.
ISOLAS are committed to providing the best possible outcomes for our clients by remaining at the top of our game achieving this by investing in our people, partnering with our clients and continuously improving our knowledge and expertise to deliver the best outcomes for our clients.
ISOLAS are proud to be a leader in their field and are committed to maintaining that position by providing their clients with the best possible service.
ISOLAS would like to thank HM Government of Gibraltar, Minister for Financial Services Hon. Nigel Feetham KC and the Gibraltar Finance Centre team for what was a very successful series of events.”
