Kerry Jones, senior manager responsible for leading Optimus’ fintech operations said the move was “not a wholesale change of direction but a logical extension of what we’ve been doing for years”.
Optimus, which also has offices in Malta, said the IoM was the “fintech centre of choice” for digital currencies, ICOs and development of blockchain applications.
Last month Abu Dhabi set out its stall to grab a share of the cryptocurrency market.
Extra layer of governance
The firm singled out the IoM’s enhanced counter terrorism financing and anti-money laundering oversight with know your customer and beneficial ownership checks as triggers for their fintech initiative.
According to Optimus, the island’s Department of Economic Development is seeing very high levels of interest which it attributes largely to this layer of governance.
“A core objective of our commercial business lines at Optimus is to provide the most robust corporate and operational infrastructure possible for international entrepreneurs and it is extremely heartening when your government provides you with an appropriate regulatory infrastructure in which to do so,” said Kerry.
“We’ve had an eye on this space for a while, quietly building a portfolio of client relationships which are innovating in digital currency and distributed ledger technology.”
International tax avoidance treaty signed
In a separate development, the Isle of Man and Austria became the first countries to ratify a new international treaty against tax avoidance.
