Based on the contents of this delirious court filing we would argue that the answer is an unequivocal “yes.”
That’s not because Guy Hands, the founder of Terra Firma and, by extension, the boss of EMI, may have lost touch with reality in his wild accusations of fraud against Citigroup and its clubbable corporate financier, David Wormsley.
It’s because of this:
22. The Plaintiffs in this action are residents of Guernsey, an island off the coast of France. Guernsey is located among the Channel Islands, approximately 30 miles from the coast of France in the English Channel. It is a crown dependency of, but independent from, the United Kingdom (and has been so independent for more than 800 years). In addition to being separate from the United Kingdom for all tax and fiscal purposes, it sets its own laws, has its own legislature, its own civil and criminal court and judicial system, its own parliamentary system, its own Bar, its own financial services commission, prints its own currency, and has its own postal system.
23. If either of the plaintiffs conducts investment business in the United Kingdom – as would almost certainly need to occur were I to go to the United Kingdom for the duration of the trial, or as could occur were other board members who may testify also to attend the trial – the plaintiffs could incur legal risk in connection with their tax status…
The latest Hands court declaration goes on to explain how he left Britain for Guernsey last April and has no intention of stepping foot back in the UK for at least three years from that date.
No matter that his kids are still at school in Kent, where his wife lives at their “former family home” during term time.
No matter that Terra Firma Capital Partners is based in London. He never visits the office and is employed only by its Channel Islands associate Terra Firma Capital Management.
Hands doesn’t visit his parents in Britain – and he would only do so “in an emergency.” And he never goes through Heathrow, flying via Frankfurt and Paris instead.
This is all to avoid the hike in top-band income tax from 40 to 50 per cent, which is coming to higher earners in Britain soon.
Which is Hands’ prerogative, of course – except that a reading of this financier’s plea to the New York courts leaves the distinct impression that he expects everyone else to re-organise their affairs just to suit him.
It is difficult to avoid a mental image of a sour, brooding Hands holding court at Ocean House, Rue du Pretre, Guernsey, while Terra Firma underlings, investors and various family members are ferried to and from the local airport, just to pay homage to The (former) Great Man.
Hands, of course, was educated in Britain – at Mansfield Colleage, Oxford, where he read PPE. He’s spent pretty much his entire career in the City, being a principal beneficiary of London’s growth as the hub of securitisation. Britain made him rich.
Going forward, the country might be better off without him.
Related links:
Hands’ Three-Year Exile – Kleinman
Hands off Hands’ taxes – Long Room
EMI Thoughts – Long Room