The Isle Of Man - A Stable Base For Your Investment

The Isle of Man is an self governing Crown Dependency situated in the Irish Sea, midway between Ireland and England. Tynwald, the Manx Parliament, is older than the House of Commons (UK Parliament) and has provided the seat of government for over 1,000 years.

The Isle of Man enacts its own legislation, which receives Royal assent. As the United Kingdom has sovereignity over the island, it is responsible for the island's ultimate good government, and in particular, the insurance legislation which is based upon that of the United Kingdom.

Links:

• Isle of Man Financial Centre
• Isle of Man Government

Protection:

The Isle of Man is the only offshore finance centre providing compensation schemes in all three of the main areas of finance - namely deposits, funds and life policies.

• Policyholder Protection in the Isle of Man is provided under the Life Assurance (Compensation of Policyholders) Regulations 1991, administered by the Isle of Man Government Insurance and Pensions Authority and offering protection broadly along the lines of the UK Policyholders Protection Act 1975. It can be summarised as follows:
• all holders of policies issued after April 5th, 1988 by Isle of Man insurance companies are protected;
• up to 90% of benefits under a policy are covered with no ceiling;
• potential Policyholders where policy documents have not yet been issued are covered;
• the Insurance and Pensions Authority is required to seek out protected Policyholders in the event that a company becomes unable to meet its liabilities and find ways of securing continuance of Policyholders' benefits.

Security:

The Isle of Man was the first of 35 jurisdictions to achieve the highest financial services rating issued by the three of the world's most influential policy making bodies (OECD, FATF and FSF). This rating relates to an offshore financial centre's stability and security.

The island is the first Crown Dependency to launch an independent Financial Services Ombudsman scheme. Individuals with an unresolved financial complaint against an Isle of Man company after April 1999 can use this scheme.

In 2002, Standard and Poor's and Moody's have both given the Isle of Man AAA ratings - this compares favourably to the likes of both Italy and Spain which were given AA ratings.

Awards:
The Isle of Man has won numerous awards, which confirm its position as one of the world's premier offshore centres.