Jersey Finance has welcomed the announcement from the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC) that 25 bi-lateral agreements have been signed in respect of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), another key step in meeting the requirements of the Directive.

Jersey’s strategy, which is to offer flexibility within its funds regime to allow continued access to European markets, while also providing options for the rest of the world, remains on track.   It is the intention of the Jersey funds industry to satisfy the criteria to comply with the AIFMD and remain attractive both for ongoing ‘business as usual’ activity with Europe and also the increasing volume of business targeting markets outside the Eurozone.

The JFSC announced last Friday (July 12) that 25 AIFMD bilateral cooperation agreements have been signed with EU/EEA Member State supervisory authorities and that they are in active dialogue to conclude and agree the last few remaining agreements.

Geoff Cook, CEO, Jersey Finance, commented:

‘This is further positive news for the funds industry which has been experiencing consistent growth in 2013 to date.  The total net asset value of funds under administration in Jersey surpassed the £200bn barrier for the first time since March 2009 earlier this year and in the first quarter of 2013 there was a 6.5% increase in the total value. The Commission’s announcement that it has signed up to these agreements is encouraging and can only add to the momentum of the year to date.’

In May, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) approved a cooperation agreement with Jersey to ensure it can continue to deliver alternative investment funds business into Europe after the introduction of the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) which is scheduled to come into effect on July 22.

From that date, access to EU markets for Jersey will be through private placement arrangements with individual EU countries until at least 2018. In order to achieve this, new regulations were introduced in Jersey in April this year, mirroring EU requirements and allowing for the creation of an opt-in regime for managers wishing to market to European investors. The next step is the individual agreements between Jersey’s regulator and the regulators of member states and Friday’s announcement was an update on the agreements signed to date.