‘Friendly’ regulator sees Guernsey back in vogue
GUERNSEY is ‘back in vogue’ with the City of London as a funds centre.
Charlotte Parr, client services director at Imperium Fund Services, said new business was coming to the island with the Guernsey Financial Services Commission – the finance industry regulator – seen as being ‘friendly’, not least in terms of new asset classes such as cryptocurrency.
‘Our pipeline is very active. We are seeing lots of new mandates coming to the island, which is good. The general consensus when we speak to London lawyers is that Guernsey and Jersey are back in vogue,’ she said.
‘The regulator is actually seen as friendly. There are a lot more niche asset classes. The commission is quite open to it.
‘That’s being picked up in the London market. If they get someone coming with a bit of a niche, unusual asset class, [they say] let’s give Guernsey a call.’
The new Private Investment Fund regime had also been ‘very helpful’, she said. ‘We’re definitely seeing that as being an advantage. People like the flexibility that it gives, particularly the first-time fund managers. It’s gives them an easy road in.’
Interest in Guernsey as a place to do business had been generated because of the amount of activity locally, such as the new PIF rules, law changes and around new asset classes. ‘There’s been one thing after another that has got people talking,’ she said.
In October, official figures shows that the net asset value of funds domiciled in Guernsey was at its highest ever level – £272.6bn – following a 20% increase over the course of a year.
The latest statistics also showed that funds designated with Guernsey Green Fund status – which offers a green finance kite mark - had hit double figures. There were 11 in total with a net asset value of £3.9bn at the end of June 2021.
