BFA:Spanish Division in Casemates

In 2005, due to staff expansion and demand, BFA Estate Agency decided to open a second office located at The Balcony, Casemates Square. These premises were originally BFA's Exhibition Centre, which proved to be an excellent location for clients to browse through the extensive Gibraltar and Spanish property portfolio. With the demand for properties in Spain high, BFA then decided to open their Spanish Division in this location.

BFA's Spanish Portfolio covers the surround ing area including La Linea, San Roque, and Los Barrios and jimena, and along the coast to Duquesa, taking in Sotogrande, Alcaidesa and Sabanillas.

Managed by Jackie Carlin and supported by Natalia Corcoles and Melanie Edmonds, The Property Gallery is now the center for BFA's specialized Spanish marketing team, Jackie joined BFA in 2003 after a long career with a locally based foreign bank. Jackie's com mitment and dedication to her work over the pastfour years has provided her with a wealth of information on the correct procedure for making a purchase in Spain a smoother experience. The system in Spain,though not difficult,is certainly different as to when purchasing in Gibraltar and clients are advised of the correct procedures in order to avoid any unnecessary problems.

Natalia, joined the team early in 2007 and is an experienced sales executive who previously worked in Spain for a Property developer.Nata lia, who works alongside Jackie, offers the team her vast knowledge and experience.

Melanie also joined the team in 2007 and is responsible for the upkeep of the website and providing secretarial support to the Property Gallery team.

The aim at BFA Property Gallery is to fully inform and help to protect clients' interests when selling or buying. BFA also offers quali fied and independent assistance for the provi sion of mortgage advisers, bank appointments and Spanish valuers and well as lawyers based in Gibraltar (qualified in Spanish Law) and lawyers based in Spain,Spanish surveyors and renovation contractors.

In addition, BFA's extensive Spanish Rental Portfolio offers properties from 700 Euros per month to 3,500 Euros p>er month ranging from apartments in La Linea to luxury houses in Sotogrande.

For a professional and detailed sen>ice, call BFA Property Gallery(Spanish Division)200 71625 Fax: 200 52668 or call in at 17B Casemates Square, The Balcony or visit :mnv.hfiiyil\cont.

Cibraltar's Housing Act

Gibraltar's Housing Act 2007 received Royal Assent in July 2007 and will com mence on 1st June 2008.

This means that Statutory Rents will rise by 100% from that date. Private sector ten ants are eligible to apply for rent assistance from the Government under its rent relief scheme.

Initially the rise will not apply to build ings constructed between Isl January 1945 and 1st March 1959,due to the fact the Gov ernment is awaiting the outcome of a court ruling in a case between a private landlord and a private tenant.

Housing Minister Fabian Vinet said; "This legislation modernises all aspects of housing legislation in Gibraltar and results in all Gibraltar's Housing legislation being consolidated in one Housing Act. However, it also introduces many new aspects,includ ing the setting up ofa new Housing tribunal and, importantly, enables the Government to introduce Anti-Social Behaviour Regula tions in all housing areas."

From a small beginning six years ago when local lawyer James Lasry put together a prospectus and provided structural advice to help establish a small Indian private equity fund, Gibraltar's fund industry has burgeoned... And it continues to gather pace, benefiting in part from the pressures on Dublin and Luxembourg,the two leading fund jurisdictions in the EU.

Not only has the City begun to sit up and take notice of the advantages of the Rock's fund industry which serves traditional markets, but in recent months has also established a range of funds for investors in Sweden,Germany and Russia.

And though elsewhere the in ternational financial gloom has de pressed the global funds industry, growth here has been impressive, almost phenomenal. Since March last year 15 new Experienced Inves tor Funds have been established - as many as all of those set up in Gibraltar in the two previous years-and though most have been comparatively small, three have capital investment of £100 million or more.The others range between £10 million and £50 million. And though many are property or eq uity funds, the Gibraltar industry now includes several hedge funds as well as a fund based on oil wells in Louisiana and another with in vestments in bio-diesel.

Performances in some of the funds have also been spectacular and the "Planetary Fund" has grown by over 300 per cent since it was introduced. "My partner Nigel Feetham actually set Plan etary up about8 years ago. He and James Levy QC the senior partner at Hassans both encouraged me to develop my interest in funds" recalls Lasry.

"We still have a long way to go, but we are beginning to be on the map," says Lasry who is generally regarded as the father of Gibraltar's funds industry and who has advised on and drawn the prospectuses for most of the Rock's big funds — including a $1 billion property fund. "At a recent confer ence in Dublin,I met a lawyer who was in at the start of that city's fund industry," Lasry says."He told me '15 years ago Dublin was in the same position that you are now... and I really envy you. You have a lot to look forward to'."

In fact, Dublin's and Luxem bourg's successes in the interna tional funds market over the past decade have benefited the Rock, for both jurisdictions have reached

"saturation point" in the sense that they do not have the spare capac ity to handle smaller funds - and they find themselves stretched.Asa result funds work that would previ ously have gone to either of these financial centres is being channeled elsewhere and,as Gibraltar's funds reputation grows,the Rock is prov ing an attractive alternative.

"City investment and law firms are having to expand their reper toires and, if they are looking at funds, with Dublin and Luxem bourg filled almost to capacity, Gi braltar is a popular option," Lasry told me recently."For us,it's a'Win Win'situation."

And although Gibraltar's fund industry's unique selling points are particularly advantageous for property and private equity funds, he believes that Gibraltar's high standards and flexibility in creasingly will make it attractive for hedge funds especially as the boundaries between the categories of funds disappear. This is seen from the number of new enquiries being received.

"Hedge funds"says Lasry,"look for a convenient jurisdiction which allows them flexibility, a good legal infrastructure and other ben efits such as the necessary service providers and a shared time zone. One key point is to avoid any reputational risks, which only can be guaranteed by a well regulated industry, though not sacrificing a hands-on approach by the regula tor. Gibraltar is very lucky in this respect as the Financial Services Commission is very supportive of the industry. If we come to them with a good idea they take it seri ously and they are always prepared to discuss and improve ways of doing things.

"Gibraltar is a very good exam ple for such a high standard,and as the latest report by the International Monetary Fund indicates, it is also a flexible jurisdiction."

This flexibility combined with a sympathetic approach by official dom gives Gibraltar several advan tages over other jurisdictions, not the least of which is the speed with which a fund can be set up- which can be a matter of days.

"Gibraltar's Chief Minister Peter Caruana is very turned on to funds, as is his new Minister of Justice Daniel Feetham, and they're both people who understand the indus try," Lasry says.

In fact, the reform in Gibraltar's tax and fund legislation have pro vided investors and their advisors with a simple and effective way to structure funds and enabled Gibraltarian companies and funds to access the benefits of the European Parent Subsidiary Directive. This includes the phasing out of the tax exemptcompany regime as a result of pressure from the European Commission and the introduction of the Experienced Investor Fund regime.

"These changes have turned Gibraltar into the jurisdiction of choice for European private equity and property funds," Lasry told me.

"Part of the quid pro quo with the EC for the phasing out of Gibraltar's tax exempt company regime was that the Commission communicated to the member states that the Parent Subsidiary Directive should be applied to Gibraltar lax resident companies in the way that it would be applied to companies that are tax resident in any other member state.

"A)though Gibraltar is within the EU by virtue of the Treaty of Nice, until recently many jurisdictions took the view that since Gibraltar is not an actual member state on its own, they would not apply the Directive to Gibraltar companies even though EU directives apply to Gibraltar and must be transposed into internal legislation. At present some jurisdictions are either un aware of this development or some have even decided not to apply the directive to Gibraltar companies in apparent contradiction to the Commission's notice."

Some jurisdictions, including Luxembourg, have taken a view that if a Gibraltar company is prop erly tax resident in Gibraltar and if it has a relevant participation in a Luxembourg company, the Lux embourg authorities will not tax dividends paid from a Luxembourg company to its Gibraltar parent.

"Gibraltar's Experienced Inves tor Fund (EIF) regime is a very quick and efficient way to structure a fund, whether a hedge fund or a private equity/real estate fund, where the intention is to market that fund to experienced high net worth investors," Lasry writes in the Hedge Fund Services Market ing Guide for 2008. "Experienced investors are defined in Gibraltar as investors who are demonstrably experienced in making investments or those who have a net worth in excess of Euro 1 million besides their principal place of residence or those who have invested Euro 100,000 in the fund."

An EIF must produce a pro spectus that complies with the EIF regulations. One of the unique ad vantages of the EIF is that the fund can begin trading on the basis of the approval and issue of the pro spectus by the board of the fund. This is provided that within 14 days of launch, the fund's prospectus, memorandum and articles of asso ciation and certain other documents are lodged with the FSC along with a legal opinion from an established local lawyer that the fund complies with EIF regulations. There is a £2,500 application fee.

Though the FSC may request further documents or even, on occasion, amendments to the pro spectus, the huge significance of this is that there is no regulatory down time to the authorization of a fund. If necessary a fund can be set up in a matter of days as many of the service providers can offer turn-key solutions.

How does the future of the indus try look? Lasry believes that out sourcing will become increasingly important because "the growth of the industr}' is likely to be ex|X)nential and managers will need to concentrate on their strategies".

Point of sale with easy-to-use touch buttons

BSG specialises in ttie supply oftouch screen EPoS {Electronic Point of Sale) stock control systems for general retail and fashion, and hospitality systems for bars and restaurants. We have a range of EPoS stock control soft ware and restaurant stock control software to meet the modern demands of such en vironments and have spent many years con tinuing to develop our EPoS systems.

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