Failure to do so could lead to costly mistakes, litigation and reputational issues.
Patience is more than a virtue during this transitional period while we learn how everything fits when considering new ways of structuring client’s assets and portfolios.
Legal issues
Litigation is also an important point to note. It could be very easy to become embroiled in legal issues when dealing with these changes and scenarios.
Therefore we need to ensure we have something in place to deal with these eventualities. Once again key relationships are vital to ensure we know where and who to go to for answers.
In-House support
As advisers we need to keep abreast of a myriad of changes and make time to understand them, be aware of the pitfalls and plan to anticipate as many of them as possible.
Although I have the feeling we won’t capture them all there is a chance to learn, share knowledge and help one another.
It will be a very steep learning curve and we need to make sure that we have the right people in house to help us work through this. It’s an on-going project for us all.
Cyber Security
Now that working from home has become the ‘new normal’ for the foreseeable future, cyber security is increasingly more important and relevant.
If we isolate ourselves from cyber developments in Europe and globally, which could happen should we no longer share critical information via security channels, we need to be aware of the pitfalls and attacks our systems could sustain.
This could have huge ramifications for us in terms of reputational damage and any subsequent fallout could lead to significant litigation.
So, while this is not something that directly affects client assets it’s one of the most important areas where we need to take advice and look at what is happening in both the UK, Europe and globally.
Structures
Although now would seem like a good time to set up structures with a pre-Brexit end date, some clients quite rightly want to see what the world looks like after Brexit before making commitments.
They are uncertain of the future and quite rightly concerned about rushing into something which could lead to higher costs and perhaps having to unwind a structure that no longer works.
Once again, this is where tax and VAT advisors will become even more important in each jurisdiction post Brexit.
Investments
It will be interesting to see if options for investment may be reduced. Europe may close its door to investment opportunities, although highly unlikely based on global issues facing us all at this time.
However, it may also become more fractured if countries within Europe see the UK is thriving post Brexit as a result of its increased control. Only time will tell.
