Shore Capital relocated offshore

18/03/2010

London-based stockbroker, Shore Capital has announced it is relocating its company registration to Guernsey.

The firm is expanding globally and wants to find a friendlier tax and business environment from which to be based. Howard Shore, the firm’s chairman and founder, stated, “the head office will be in Guernsey.” He added, “this is about the growing internationalisation of our business.”

Formal documents from the company, describing the reasons behind the office relocation, stated that Guernsey would provide, “a more stable tax environment and a regulatory environment better suited to an internationally expanding business.”

The corporate tax rate on the Channel island is between 0 and 10 per cent. Shore will be able to take advantage of this as a result of its relocation, as the new holding company for the entire group will be registered there. This is despite the core equity division remaining in London. Some staff are also expected to relocate to the island and will be able to take advantage of the flat rate personal tax of 20 per cent.

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ tax partner Alex Henderson explained, “Companies are increasingly looking at low tax jurisdictions. It’s not just for the lower tax rate but also for the relative simplicity of incorporating outside the UK.”