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More than 40 experts from Guernsey’s finance, business and education communities gathered to discuss the reality of financial innovation in Guernsey, focusing on emerging areas such as fintech and cryptocurrencies, the Digital Greenhouse concept and broader issues such as skills.
Jennifer Strachan, director of Startup Guernsey who co-mediated the event as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, said the meeting had prompted some interesting debate.
“We invoked the Chatham House Rule to deliberately inspire openness and establish how traditional finance practitioners feel about the concepts we have been discussing. The sentiment was largely positive with agreement that Guernsey should move forward and that this could be achieved through more collaboration between businesses, between the public and private sectors and between the Channel Islands,” she said. "While initiatives such as the Digital Greenhouse were welcomed, many of the attendees highlighted the barriers that hinder innovation in Guernsey.”
Aversion to risk, the island’s regulatory and legal frameworks and lack of promotion for Guernsey as a business centre, not just a financial one, were all raised. One delegate cited local AML procedures as preventing the launch of a digital payment company; another explained that innovative investment methods such as crowdfunding are illegal for registered Guernsey businesses under the Protection of Investors Law.
Attendee Eric Martineau-Fortin, managing partner of White Star Capital, said the event was something he would like to see more often.
“We can see that there is a willingness to create new companies and industries but it also highlights the need to work collaboratively across the island. I would say that the right elements are here to create an interesting industry around fintech through the island’s strengths in asset management, fiduciary management and administration and we should certainly pursue areas like cryptoassets.
“We need to focus on attracting talent to the island and connecting the politics with entrepreneurship. Government should not finance the business but should provide the infrastructure necessary for entrepreneurs to succeed. The Digital Greenhouse is a great idea; one that I have seen work well across the world, but we need to consider the whole value chain and that starts with how we can import talented individuals to facilitate these burgeoning areas.”
Startup Guernsey is encouraging people to continue the debate online using the hashtag #DigitalGreenhouse.
A full programme of this week’s Startup Guernsey events can be found online here: http://www.startup.gg/articles/global-entrepreneurship-week
