The Isle of Man Ship Registry is now taking yachts with ownerships structures in Monaco or Switzerland as a result of legislative changes approved by its parliament, Tynwald, this week. This represents a strategic move related to superyachts, which was brought about in answer to requests by the yachting industry on the Isle of Man seeing large potential for new business opportunities thanks to these changes.

The latest regulations extends the list of qualified owners already approved, to include citizens, bodies corporate incorporated in Monaco or Switzerland, or limited partnerships with their principal place of business in Monaco or Switzerland, as persons who are qualified to be the owners of Manx ships.

Mr Alex Downie, OBE, MLC, the political member with responsibility for shipping, said “I am delighted to have been able to establish regulations to extend our ownership criteria to include the important financial centres of Monaco and Switzerland. The private sector yacht management companies on the Island see great potential in this latest move and I hope to see more yachts financed in these countries flying the Manx ensign in the future”.

Dick Welsh, director of the Isle of Man Ship Registry said “This a very useful piece of legislation and a great example of the public/private partnership which exists in the Isle of Man. When the list was last changed in 2009, these countries were overlooked in terms of ownership structures but we have since received many enquiries for both ships and yachts with ownership structures which were unable to accept. The private sector worked with us to ensure that business opportunities are not lost and I’m happy that the door is now open for Monaco and Switzerland.”