Leeds Financial Services Overseas, a new subsidiary of Leeds Building Society, has entered into partnership with Yorkshire financial services company Tenet, to expand the society's business model overseas.
Tenet, an independent compliance and support service company for financial services organizations and advisers, has received a permit to provide advice abroad and will support Leeds Financial Services Overseas (LFSO) in meeting the needs of clients in Gibraltar and southern Spain, with the opportunity to extend to other EU countries in the future.
The UK Office of National Statistics recently confirmed that around 198,000 Britons left for foreign shores over the last year, with Spain being the second most popular destination. As a result, it is expected that there will be a growing population of expatriates who would value and prefer to receive financial advice from UK registered advisers.
Kim Rebecchi, chairman of LFSO, commented: We have launched this service to meet the demand for a UK standard financial planning service, which is regulated by the FSA in the UK and FSC in Gibraltar, and we have a fully qualified financial planning manager based at our Gibraltar branch. We also plan to be able to provide the expatriate community in Spain with access to this service later this year.
Keith Richards, group distribution and development director of Tenet, said: The potential market for professional financial advice abroad is one that has yet to be capitalized on and we are delighted to be supporting Leeds Financial Services Overseas in this exciting new initiative. Tenet’s innovative approach for LFSO will form a base from which it will be able to offer services to advisers operating elsewhere in the EU.