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LaSalle Global Fund Services launches hedge fund administration in Jersey

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LaSalle Global Fund Services, which established a European foothold by setting up a hedge fund administration business in Dublin in March, has extended its presence by opening a Jersey ope

LaSalle Global Fund Services, which established a European foothold by setting up a hedge fund administration business in Dublin in March, has extended its presence by opening a Jersey operation to service locally domiciled hedge funds and other alternative investment vehicles.

Chicago-based LaSalle Global Fund Services is the hedge fund administration arm of LaSalle Bank, which is currently owned by ABN Amro but is the subject of a legal tussle between Bank of America and the consortium headed by Royal Bank of Scotland that is bidding to acquire the Dutch-based banking group.

The firm’s team in Jersey is headed by managing director Michael Rothwell, who previously was in charge of Invesco International’s operation on the island, a role in which he developed an operational platform with fund administration, private client, transfer agency and client servicing capabilities.

Rothwell was also responsible for Invesco’s Luxembourg management company and was a chairman or director on a number of boards of Jersey businesses, including regulated companies, fund structures and listed companies.

LaSalle has also appointed as a director of its Jersey operation Stefan McGreevy, who was previously a senior audit manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers Jersey, responsible for a portfolio of 40 clients and head of the PwC hedge fund focus group at the firm.

‘The asset management industry in Jersey has sophisticated needs that LaSalle Global Fund Services is ideally positioned to meet,’ Rothwell says. ‘We have an experienced team backed by LaSalle Bank, which is recognised globally for its leading position in trustee services for commercial mortgage-backed securities and collateralised debt obligations.’

Adds Morgan Downey, managing director of LaSalle Global Fund Services in Europe: ‘By opening our operation in Jersey, LaSalle Global Fund Services is demonstrating that it is meeting the expectations of the alternative investment industry here.’

LaSalle notes that Jersey is a popular location for investment managers using CDOs and asset-backed securities, and it sees demand for fund administration services for these instruments from existing clients, along with the island’s popularity as a jurisdiction for alternative investment funds of funds and property funds, as the drivers for its expansion into the jurisdiction.

The opening of a Jersey base is a part of a strategy of servicing the key global hedge fund jurisdictions for LaSalle Global Fund Services, which is headed by Jim Jendra and was established in Chicago earlier this year. Following the opening of offices in London and Dublin and now Jersey, the company plans to launch operations in Asia later in 2007.

LaSalle Bank’s Global Securities and Trust Services has served as trustee, custodian or agent on more than USD1.5trn in assets, offering the global capital markets securitisation trustee and agency services, corporate trust, institutional custody and escrow services. LaSalle Bank has USD72.9bn in assets and USD43.7bn in deposits, while parent company LaSalle Bank Corporation, also headquartered in Chicago, has more than USD118.3bn in assets.

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