The next steps for Gibraltar’s banking and finance industry

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 Friday, July 24, 2020 - 09:57

SPECIAL REPORT

by PETER TABERNER

Continues from yesterday

During April when the pandemic began to take its grip, the GFSC outlined what its expectations were of banks during the pandemic.

The advice ranged from urging banks to refrain from paying dividends throughout this year to maintain capitalisation, and being asked to review remuneration so they are set at a conservative level.

Flexibility is encouraged in these times, and the temporary measures that have put forward include adapting the timeline on the application of international accounting standards on banks’ capital reserves.

For example, by treating more favourably public guarantees during the crises by suspending the application date of banks’ leverage ratio shield, plus excluding certain exposure calculations of the ratio to provide more leeway.

The next step for Gibraltar’s banking and finance industry is to forge a path out of the current conditions to ensure that businesses thrive once more.

Already the Gibraltar Bankers’ Association had made detailed submissions to the Government’s Task Force Future, with proposals aimed at the future progress in the banking industry, and the economy as a whole.

Yet it’s uncertain whether strategies such as pressing for more business in the UK, as part of the “Think business, Think Gibraltar” campaign which was launched last September, with the UK being a key partner for Gibraltar once Brexit is finally completed, is going to be a successful path.

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