The British Expats Event took place on March, 9th 2016 and was hosted by ‘The Bank of the West’. The evening afforded the attendees the opportunity to network and hear from an array of Bay Area experts on a variety of topics and issues concerning British Expats. The evening was headed by a panel that answered questions on a range of tax, financial, retirement and immigration matters. The panel consisted of: Troy Christansen, (Spott Lucey & Wall), Arnaud Sintes (Bank of the West), Emma Cockerton (Florin Pensions LLC), James Mayock (E & M Mayock) and moderator Rebecca Mulligan (Bank of the West).

The event provided attendees with the opportunity to direct individually-tailored questions to the panel in regards to their own tax, immigration, legal, banking and pension circumstances. This allowed the attendees to get their pending questions or queries answered and it helped them to decide on an appropriate course of action going forward.

Troy answered a variety of questions in regards to filing tax returns and the audience learned about the tax implications of staying in the US on both a short-term and long-term basis. Arnaud spoke about the fundamental importance of establishing a credit history upon arriving in the United States and the differences between the European and American perceptions of ‘credit’. Emma highlighted the issues relating to both US and UK pensions, specifically whether they are transferable and the benefits surrounding both the SIPP and QROPS. As well as underlining the changes to the UK pensions as of April 2015 and the implications of the new legislation. James responded to a multitude of questions in relation to immigration law and the green card application process.

The event proved to be engaging and informative for all that attended, a special thanks to all participants and our event sponsors: Bank of the West, Spott Lucey & Wall, Florin Pensions and E & M Mayock.