Mourant du Feu & Jeune has become the first law firm to establish unregulated funds in Jersey under the new regime introduced last month, taking advantage of the provision that exempts
Mourant du Feu & Jeune has become the first law firm to establish unregulated funds in Jersey under the new regime introduced last month, taking advantage of the provision that exempts certain types of fund listed on a stock market approved by the Jersey Financial Services Commission from regulation on the island.
The Unregulated Funds regime covers two types of fund. Unregulated Exchange Traded Funds must be closed-ended and listed on an authorised exchange or market, including the London Stock Exchange, AIM, the Irish Stock Exchange and the Channel Islands Stock Exchange, while Unregulated Eligible Investor Funds may be open or closed-ended and must be offered only to eligible investors.
Mourant du Feu & Jeune set up two Unregulated Exchange Traded Funds in the first week of the new regime, both as part of a Jersey protected cell company established to issue structured equity products in the form of preference shares. Both funds have issued shares designed to provide a return linked to the performance of a proprietary market neutral index over a three-year period.
The funds are sponsored by a leading investment bank and administered in Jersey by the Mourant group’s fund administration arm. The shares are listed on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange with Mourant Capital Markets Services appointed as listing sponsor.
Mourant says unregulated funds are extremely attractive for promoters targeting sophisticated and high net worth investors. ‘The new regime has a lightness of touch and flexibility which is similar, and in some aspects superior, to the equivalent regimes offered by Caribbean and other offshore jurisdictions,’ says Jonathan Rigby, a partner at Mourant du Feu & Jeune who with senior associate Michael Williams was responsible for setting up the funds.
‘Unregulated funds are generating considerable interest amongst European-based alternative asset managers and are likely to drive further growth in the island’s fund industry. We are proud to have structured the first unregulated funds in Jersey.’
Jersey’s continuing growth in funds under administration to almost GBP250bn at the end of last year has been driven, in large part, by the introduction of the Expert Funds regime in 2004 and of Listed Funds in 2007.
According to the Jersey Funds Encyclopaedia published by Lipper Fitzrovia, Mourant du Feu & Jeune is the leading legal adviser to funds in Jersey, advising a total of 873 funds (up 28.5 per cent year on year) at the end of June last year, representing a 43 per cent market share.
Mourant du Feu & Jeune’s specialist funds team advises a broad range of Cayman, Jersey and Guernsey hedge, property, private equity and money market funds.
Mourant is a multi-disciplinary international professional services group, specialising in fund and corporate administration, offshore law, and private wealth services and with more than 1,000 employees at offices in Cayman, Dubai, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, New York, San Francisco and Singapore.
Mourant du Feu & Jeune operates from offices in Cayman, Guernsey, Jersey, London and New York and has more than 220 staff following its merger in Cayman with Quin & Hampson. Mourant International Finance Administration has more than USD150bn in assets under its administration, while Mourant Private Wealth offers bespoke administration solutions for private clients and families from offices in Cayman, Dubai, Jersey and Luxembourg.
