This follows a statement back in October last year, by Standard Bank Private Clients, that there was to be a shake-up of its international trust and fiduciary division.
The Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission announced that "Standard Bank Trust Company (Isle of Man), which was licensed under Section 7 of the Financial Services Act 2008, has surrendered its licence with effect from 31 May 2013.”
In a statement to International Adviser, Standard Bank said that following a comprehensive review undertaken during 2012, Standard Bank Private Clients had completed the reorganisation of its International Trust & Fiduciary division by transferring trust business from the Isle of Man to either Jersey or Mauritius. Since the end of 2012, the bulk of its clients’ trust business has been managed and administered from Jersey and Mauritius.
John Coyle, CEO of Standard Bank in the Isle of Man said: “The process that we went through was aimed at ensuring that we improve the service to our clients as well as enhance our long-term competitive position. We carefully reviewed the way we deliver trust services to our clients across the Group, and decided it would be more beneficial to clients if Trust activities were centralised in Jersey and Mauritius.
From the business point of view this also serves to keep our operations simple and cost-effective. The transition has been implemented smoothly and my team in the IOM are now able to focus on meeting the international banking needs of mass affluent clients, in particular those introduced by international IFAs."
Standard Bank said last October that it regretted that 17 roles in the Isle of Man trust business were at risk but that it would do all it could to find jobs elsewhere in the Standard Bank organisation for its staff.
At that time, Coyle said: "Standard Bank has a long history in the Isle of Man, and we are fully committed to our future growth strategy here.
"It is only the trust activities which will be affected. We have significant banking operations on the Isle of Man, which continue to grow and develop, employing more than 100 people in the island.
"In fact, the process that we are going through now is aimed at ensuring that we improve our long-term competitive position. We have carefully reviewed the way we deliver trust services to our clients across the Group, and have decided to consolidate the business in our other locations in order to make sure our model is kept simple and cost-effective."
The Isle of Man trust business is part of the group’s international private clients division which also includes operations in London, Jersey and Mauritius.
