The end is nigh?

The perennial question in the offshore world has reared its head once again: are we seeing the beginning of the end of the traditional offshore finance centre? But this time the threat is not from international bodies trying to stamp out corruption, money laundering and tax evasion, but direct competition from mainstream onshore financial centres. In Europe, the threat looks pretty serious - the effect of the Insurance Mediation Directive on intermediary sales of offshore life products could be severe. The slightly murky legal environment in which European advisers have worked is set to...