Cyprus and Texas

I spent the first part of this week researching current attitudes towards Cyprus as a jurisdiction for holding companies. This may sound tedious to some, but I quite enjoyed it, because it meant canvassing opinions from Russians, Belgians and Americans and pulling the information together into a published article. A bit different to the stuff I normally do. I thought I was ghost-writing the article for one of the partners, but he gave me credit in the email to the magazine which promptly asked for a photograph of me, so I am soon to be held out to the world as a Cyprus expert. Which is rather odd given that I have never structured any transaction using a Cyprus holding company and probably never will.

On Wednesday I flew with colleagues to Austin, Texas. I am still coming to terms with the scale of America, the vast distances over which people fly from one parts of the country to another. Palo Alto obviously works most closely with the San Francisco office, the distance between them being comparable to Manchester and London. Next I guess it is the southern Californian offices which are reachable in a comparable time to London from Manchester. But after that it seems to be Austin, which is a ridiculous three hour flight away. A visit to see colleagues and clients is a three day event. (I am starting to appreciate quite why Patsy Gallant found it so difficult to find time in her life for the man that she loved.)

I cannot claim to have experienced more than a taste of Austin, but it was a great city that I would love to visit again (at leisure and with my lovely wife). It is incredibly hot (98°F), and although everybody kept telling us that it was ten degrees cooler than last week, that was no consolation as we sweated buckets whenever we went outdoors. That said, the hotel had glorious aircon in a large bedroom with a kingside bed and feather pillows: I haven't slept so well in weeks.

I had several meetings with colleagues and clients, including two clients whom I had worked for previously from the UK but never met, so it was really valuable to make those personal connections. The first night we went out with corporate colleagues from the Austin office who were a great crowd. The second night we met up with some clients for drinks and food. Two really enjoyable evenings.

 

I had some interesting conversations about politics in Texas. Austin has a reputation for being the liberal part of Texas: lots of young, technology companies make it a bit more like California than some Texas cities with a real mixture of arts and music going on. Neverhteless, the young lawyers there believed in carrying weapons and cutting welfare, and slagged off the NHS, which would have seemed quite offensive if they hadn't been so hospitable and good-natured.


On Thursday night we met with clients in a bar out of town.  A proper local place, with a trailer outside available for rent by "the hour, day or week". We got a lift there in a client's huge pick-up truck.  The food was a little bit disappointing to be honest; in fact although I'd been told that the food in Austin restaurants was fantastic especially the barbecue, we seemed to end up both nights in bars that served stuff like nachos and wings, which didn't feel particularly exotic.  Still, the atmosphere was great, and I discovered Tito's Texan vodka which is magnificent stuff. 

So what I have learned this week?

(1)      Despite the banking crisis, Cyprus has retained the tax advantages which make it suitable as a place to hold IP - for now.  Read my article in Gold magazine for more information.

(2)      The Muppets were so right to travel by map.

(3)      They don't have patio heaters in Austin, they have outdoor fans that spray water (which largely evaporates before the smokers outside can get soggy).

(4)      There is at least one corporate lawyer in Austin who carries a concealed weapon.  But having met one of his clients, I don't blame him at all, frankly I'd shoot the woman if she was my client.

(5)      Texan vodka is good stuff.

 

Pinched from internet - not taken by me!