Wednesday 28 March 2012
The two-day visit to Guernsey this week by the Swiss Ambassador to the Court of St James, His Excellency Mr Anton Thalmann, has reaffirmed the importance of the links between Guernsey and Switzerland.
Mr Thalmann, accompanied by his wife, Mrs Dominique Thalmann, and the Embassy's Economic Counsellor, Mr Fabrice Filliez, was making his first official visit to Guernsey. It follows the visit by Mr Thalmann's predecessor Mr Alexis Lautenberg in April 2010.
Mr Thalmann met with senior figures in Guernsey's government, regulatory authorities, and Guernsey-based businesses with links to Switzerland.
A Policy Council spokesman said the visit was particularly important to the Island, because Switzerland had a significant role in Guernsey's economic performance.
"Swiss banks are a vital component of Guernsey's banking sector and Swiss firms introduce a significant amount of business to Guernsey, so the Policy Council was naturally delighted that during the Ambassador's visit to Guernsey, he was able to view first-hand not only the Island's financial services operations but also our world-class system of financial regulation".
"Guernsey and Switzerland share a similar status as major international financial centres situated outside of the EU but with close connections to European institutions and individual EU Member States. As such, both jurisdictions face similar challenges and can learn much from each other, which is why it is important that we maintain our close relationship".
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