‘After the decision for the UK to leave the EU was made, we could not risk any impact to our advisers’ EU passporting status. We took immediate action to Brexit-proof the business and our Cyprus office has been operational for some time. It is a testament to the work of the team on the ground that this licence has now been approved.’ says John Westwood, Founder & Group Managing Director of the Blacktower Group.
‘We remain committed to Gibraltar; we have a strong operations team working from there and are constantly seeking ways to promote the benefits of this jurisdiction. All EU resident clients though will be moved to the Cypriot entities during 2020, enabling us to continue to service our clients in Europe, while Blacktower Financial Management (International) Limited will maintain a book of non-EU clients.’ he confirms.
The development follows the launch of Blacktower Cayman Limited back in November 2019, along with the expansion of the Group’s IFA network, Nexus Global, into the US and precedes plans to expand into Australia, South Africa and UAE later this year.
At time of writing, Brexit ‘negotiations’ are ongoing with a matter of weeks remaining before the UK’s exit from the European Union. All UK firms operating in the EU will be impacted and that includes those providing financial services also.
Recently, the Financial Conduct Authority released its Financial Lives Survey 2017, which suggests that many savers lack understanding of how their pensions work. The survey gathered responses from just under 13,000 UK consumers and aimed to gain an insight into their experiences of retail financial products and services.