The Channel Islands job-seeker jargon buster

Actuary: a professional (often working as a consultant) who uses complex calculations to make assessments and advise clients

Advocate: the principal local legal qualification. Jersey and Guernsey both have a fused profession, with advocates doing court and advisory work. The 'Batonnier' is the elected head of the local bar

Bailiff: the chief judge of each jurisdiction and also speaker of both parliamentary chambers ('L’Etats')

Beneficiaries: people who benefit from a trust

Bursary: financial assistance offered to students. In the Channel Islands many employers offer 'home' students (students who live on Jersey or Guernsey but study on the mainland) funding to help them study and work experience in the holidays

Captive insurance company: insurance or reinsurance company owned by a non-insurance group, which typically insures the risk of its parent and fellow subsidiaries

CISX: Channel Islands Stock Exchange

Domicile: as a tax concept, domicile indicates a greater degree of permanency than residence; a person’s domicile is their long-term home, rather than the place they happen to be living at any one time.

High net worth: a client who has a large sum of wealth

IOFC: international offshore financial centre

Internship: a period of work experience in which a student will work on a defined project. May be paid.

Loi: from the French for 'law', the statutes of Guernsey and Jersey are referred to as 'laws' not 'acts'. In the legislative process our equivalent of a 'bill' is known as a 'projet'

OEIC: open-ended investment companies

NAV: net asset value

Settlor: person gifting trust assets

SPV: a 'special purpose vehicle'- a company incorporated in an offshore jurisdiction to facilitate an international transaction. Most offshore corporate work will involve the structuring of one or more layers of SPVs

Tax neutral: the ability to undertake cross-border transactions without incurring additional tax liabilities

Trust: a legal entity that transfers legal title to the trust’s assets from a settlor to trustees who administer it

Trustees: the people who hold or administer the assets in a trust