Last checked at 30 Oct 2017 07:00
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STM Group Plc
("STM", "the Company" or "the Group")
Director Declaration and Relocation of Head Office
STM Group Plc (AIM: STM), the cross border financial services provider, wishes to inform the market of a matter involving Alan Kentish, the Chief Executive Officer of STM, in his capacity as a professional director of a client company of STM ("the Client").
In November 2015 the ultimate beneficial owner of the Client, who has been a client of STM's for over 15 years, became involved in a tax dispute between two countries for the years 2008 to 2013 over their respective taxing rights to the taxes correctly paid by him.
At that time and until it was clear that the issue was a tax dispute, Mr Kentish followed compliance procedures in filing two relevant Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) with STM's Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), both of which were externalized by the MLRO to the Gibraltar Financial Intelligence Unit (GFIU).
Under current Gibraltar legislation, the GFIU must respond within fourteen days if it wishes to direct any action to be taken, with a lack of response from the GFIU being acceptance by them for STM to continue as normal. No such response was received by STM's MLRO.
On Thursday 19 October 2017, approximately two years since the two SARs were filed, Mr Kentish was arrested by the Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP) on the allegation of failure to disclose under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2015.
Whilst the RGP have yet to conclude on the investigation, the advice received by Mr Kentish and by STM is that the allegations have no merit.
Accordingly, the Board of STM is fully supportive of Mr Kentish's actions in relation to this matter. Furthermore, the Board of STM is profoundly disappointed with the current situation and is confident the matter will be resolved in Mr Kentish's favour in the very near future.
In September of 2016, STM acquired the UK based, London & Colonial Group and now has administrative offices in the UK, Malta, Jersey, Spain and Gibraltar, with its head office based in Gibraltar. The Board of STM is currently reviewing where its head office should be, given its operational requirements.
Further announcements will be made in due course, as appropriate.
For further information, please contact:
STM Group Plc |
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Alan Kentish, Chief Executive Officer | Tel: 00 350 200 42686 |
Therese Neish, Chief Financial Officer | www.stmgroupplc.com |
finnCap | Tel: +44 (0)20 7600 1658 |
Matt Goode / Emily Watts - Corporate Finance Mia Gardner - Corporate Broking | www.finncap.com |
Media enquiries:
Walbrook PR | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7933 8780 |
Tom Cooper / Paul Vann
| Mob: +44 (0) 797 122 1972 tom.cooper@walbrookpr.com |
Notes to editors:
STM is a multi jurisdictional financial services group which is listed on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange. The Group specialises in the delivery of a wide range of financial service products to professional intermediaries and the administration of assets for international clients in relation to retirement, estate and succession planning and wealth structuring.
Today, STM has operations in the UK, Gibraltar, Malta, Jersey and Spain. The Group is looking to expand through the development of additional products and services that its ever more sophisticated clients demand. STM has developed a specialist international pensions division which specialises in Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS), Qualifying Non UK Pension Schemes (QNUPS). STM has a Gibraltar Life Insurance Company, STM Life plc, which provides life insurance bonds - wrappers in which a variety of investments, including investment funds, can be held.
Further information on STM Group can be found at www.stmgroupplc.com