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News
Gibraltar to join Schengen Area
As part of the eleventh hour Brexit deal between the UK, Gibraltar and the EU, Spain on the 31st December 2020 it was agreed that Gibraltar’s border with Spain will be part of the free-travel Schengen Area, following the end of the Brexit transition period.
Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo said in his New Year message that he was very happy that the deal we have negotiated covers all the key
Industry leaders develop bespoke DLT legislation
In January industry leaders in the blockchain and emerging tech space assembled to develop Gibraltar’s bespoke DLT legislation.
The working group established to deliver the 10th Core Principle of the jurisdiction’s bespoke Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) regulatory framework, convened in late 2020 and is on track for a prompt delivery.
This group behind the Gibraltar Market Integrity Study will be primarily responsible for defining the appropriate market standards for exchanges operating in the digital asset space. The DLT framework currently includes nine principles that apply to DLT businesses operating in Gibraltar. This follows a number of important updates to the jurisdiction’s bespoke regulatory framework https://www.fsc.gi/dlt in 2020
issues for Gibraltar. He assured Gibraltarians that: “Spain’s sovereignty claim in respect of Gibraltar has been specifically off the table in all discussions relating to the deal announced on New Year’s Eve”.
The Schengen Agreement is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe’s Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on the 14th June 1985 at Schengen, Luxembourg.
6 Gibraltar International www.gibraltarinternational.com
Covid-19 Vaccine
arrives in Gibraltar
On the 9th January, with the magnificent support by UK and Gibraltar-based military personnel, Gibraltar received six cold cases of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to RAF Gibraltar.
5,800 doses of the vaccine were kept in the -70c temperature controlled containers with 10kg of dry ice on board the RAF aircraft.
Having been flown from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, the consignment was then handed over to the Royal Gibraltar Regiment whose members rapidly transported them to St Bernard’s Hospital.
Gibraltar’s front line workers and the most at risk received the first injections.
GFCC welcomes in-principle agreement with the EU
The Gibraltar Finance Centre Council (GFCC) welcomed the announcement in early January that an agreement of principles has been reached between the UK, Gibraltar and Spain on the future relationship Gibraltar will have with the EU.
The GFCC was concerned at the prospects of the impact of a hard Brexit, particularly for the mobility of people across the land frontier with Spain and restrictions on providing financial services to the UK. The organization will wait until the Treaty containing the agreed principle is negotiated and circulated to form its
definitive views. However the agreed principles shared by the government are ones which the GFCC wholeheartedly supports.
A stable relationship with the EU which guarantees frontier fluidity and unhindered travel throughout the Schengen zone is to be welcomed. Coupled with bilateral access in financial services to the UK market (which Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar achieved), sensible regulation, competitive tax rates and a developing double tax treaty network, the outlook for the financial services industry and its prosperity are very positive.