31 May 2013

Hedgeweek: ESMA approves Jersey AIFMD cooperation agreement

ESMA has 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's AIFMD in July.

SMA negotiated the agreement on behalf of all 27 EU Member State securities regulators as well as the authorities from Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The agreement, which will be signed by John Harris, director general of the Jersey Financial Services Commission, enables alternative investment fund managers using Jersey to continue to seamlessly market into Europe through private placement rules until at least 2018.

Mike Jones, deputy director of securities, Jersey Financial Services Commission, says: “It has always been Jersey’s intention to be in the first tranche of jurisdictions to sign this AIFMD cooperation agreement and I am delighted that, following months of preparation work and constructive engagement with ESMA and the regulators of individual EU Member States, that agreement is now in place. It puts Jersey in a very strong position and ahead of schedule in terms of the AIFMD introduction date on 22 July.”

As a non EU jurisdiction, alongside an AIFMD-compliant regime, Jersey will also continue to offer fund managers a separate regime that lies outside the scope of the AIFMD for managers wishing to market to the rest of the world.

Geoff Cook, chief executive, Jersey Finance, says: “This is a major step in ensuring that Jersey can continue to facilitate alternative investment funds business within Europe, and will give alternative investment fund managers a huge amount of confidence in using Jersey. While Jersey’s approach to the Directive will offer a seamless transition when it comes into force in July, it will also offer a welcome degree of flexibility in offering a completely separate regime for fund managers wishing to market to non-EEA countries. This is not something all international finance centres, nor any EU nations, can offer, so in this sense the Directive will actually enhance Jersey’s appeal as a specialist centre for alternative funds business.”

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