The registered fund regime offers a significantly faster approval process than that of authorised funds (other than QIFs): three days for RCIS Funds and one day for PIFs, relying in each case upon increased due diligence obligations on the part of the fund’s administrator ...
The board of directors Composition and conduct The Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2020 (the “POI Law”) Where the entity is a licensee under the POI Law (“a POI Licensee”), the POI Law requires each director, controller, partner or manager of the POI Licensee to be a “fit and proper person” to hold that position. Factors such as his/her probity, competence, experience and judgment will go to making this determination ...
Guernsey’s funds industry Guernsey is one of the world’s largest offshore finance centres, with a thriving funds industry. Over 800 investment schemes are currently domiciled in the island. At the end of Q2 2021, there were over 1,400 investment funds and sub-funds under management and administration in Guernsey with a total net asset value of US $533 billion ...
ESG The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (“GFSC”) ran its Sustainable Finance Week in September and announced three initiatives that came into force from 20 September: The Natural Capital Fund Regime was launched and allows a regulatory designation for biodiversity and natural capital projects that positively contribute and/or reduce harm to the natural world. The regime has arguably more stringent criteria than those for the Guernsey Green Fund Regime ...
Guernsey is a Crown Dependency. The Bailiwick of Guernsey (Guernsey, together with Herm, Sark, Alderney and the surrounding islets) is part of the British Isles but independent of the UK. It is neither a member nor an associate member of the European Union (the “EU”) and as such is classified das a third- country. Guernsey is therefore not required to comply with EU directives such as the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (the “AIFMD”) ...
Contents Creation Legal personality and duration Founder Guardian Beneficiaries Council and counsillors The register of foundations Resident Agent Disclosure of Beneficial Ownership Confidentiality and disclosure Regulation of foundations Tax position Tax Filings of a Foundation CRS, FATCA and Foundations Economic Substance and Foundations Creation A foundation comes into being upon the founder endowing the foundation with its initial capital, subscribing his name to th
Contents Please click on the links below to jump to the relevant section: Legislation Relevant entities Relevant activities Tax residence requirements Guidance General requirements Directed and managed Core-income generating activities (CIGA) Premises Employees and personnel Expenditure Enhanced requirements Reduced requirements Outsourcing Enforcement authorities Reporting formalities Demonstrating compliance Penalties Recent developments Legal framework Legisl
We are often asked to opine on the status of anti-discrimination law on the island, as many believe that it does not exist. In fact it does exist, albeit to a limited extent: The Sex Discrimination (Employment) (Guernsey) Ordinance 2005 renders it unlawful for employers to discriminate against employees and job applicants on grounds of sex, marriage or gender reassignment ...
Whether CMC of a Guernsey company is exercised in the UK is question of fact. This briefing summarises UK tax residence points arising out of UK tax case law, focussing in particular on the most recent case of Development Securities (No. 9) Ltd and other v HMRC2, and also provides some practical guidance on how Guernsey companies can minimise UK CMC risks when there is no intention to make the company UK tax resident ...
Voluntary Winding Up A Guernsey company may be voluntarily wound up by means of a special resolution of its shareholders (passed by a majority of 75%). A copy of the special resolution must be filed at the Guernsey Companies Registry within 30 days who will publish notice on its website. A copy of the special resolution must also be sent to the Guernsey Financial Services Commission ("GFSC") within 30 days of the special resolution being passed if the company is supervised by the GFSC ...
Guernsey listed funds In addition, Guernsey has for some time been the domicile of choice for non-UK companies listing on the main market of the London Stock Exchange (“LSE”) and the Alternative Investment Market (“AIM”) ...
What is ATAD III? In December 2021, the European Commission (“EC”) published its proposed Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (known as “ATAD III”). ATAD III is intended to discourage the misuse of shell companies within the European Union (“EU”). The Directive is aimed at EU-resident entities which claim benefits under double taxation treaties and other EU Directives, but which lack a minimum level of economic substance ...
Alternative Dispute Resolution in Jersey In Jersey the courts do not experience the same delays as the English system. This year, in Jersey the family court has moved to a new location at International House – which has been specially designed to encourage parties to settle their matters outside the court. The new court provides various comfortable meeting rooms and parties are encouraged by the Registrars to attend court early to see if a resolution can be found ...
OECD's minimum global corporate tax The most significant recent development in the arena of taxation internationally must be the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development's (the OECD) members' agreement in late 2021, to ensure that multinational enterprises (MNEs) with global revenue above EUR 750 million will be subject to a 15% tax rate ...
Historically, the jurisdictions of choice for this US$1.2 trillion market have been the Cayman Islands and Ireland ...
We are seeing renewed interest in these types of structures – particularly from fund managers who have not previously targeted Shariah investors - as (i) sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and HNW individuals from the Middle East and South East Asia diversify into alternative assets like private equity (PE), and (ii) traditional or "western" managers look to expand into the Shariah market by establishing bespoke feeder or parallel funds in Guernsey which offer a Shariah complian
Recent upheavals sweeping the globe, including significant changes in social and familial structures and technological, political and economic shifts, have quite obviously also stoked the fire of underlying family tensions with incendiary results. Often the next generation fails to conform to the expectations of the wealth-originating generation and their goals and ambitions can diverge quite significantly ...
Flexibility in Bermuda trusts afforded by Section 47 What is Section 47 Section 47 of Bermuda’s Trustee Act 1975 provides trustees of Bermuda trusts with a very useful and flexible tool for varying trusts in the absence of the necessary power either in the trust instrument or otherwise under the relevant legislation. Trusts not governed by Bermuda law can be migrated to Bermuda to take advantage of section 47 and, in such cases, it may be desirable to appoint new trustees in Bermuda ...
The new guides provide the latest legal information on litigation funding, initiating a lawsuit, pre-trial proceedings, discovery, injunctive relief, trials and hearings, settlement, damages and judgment, appeals, costs, alternative dispute resolution and (ADR) arbitration. To access our guides please click on the jurisdictions below: Bermuda British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Guernsey Jersey To access the complete series of guides, please click here ...
Current Regulatory Regimes Bermuda was one of the first jurisdictions to introduce sector specific laws and regulations relating to the issuance of ‘digital assets’ and the provision of ’digital asset business’ services. Bermuda's regime regulates the activities of issuers and services providers rather than the technology or digital assets themselves ...
Having been asked to manage restrictions on mobility, changes in investment portfolios, and risk appetite and to consider more closely matters of mortality and succession, many family offices have found themselves in uncharted territory ...
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"13506","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"311","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]] Definitions: "LCF Law" means The Lending, Credit and Finance (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2022. "Notice" means the Guernsey Financial Services Commission's Notice with respect to the disapplication of the requirement to hold a licence under section 40 of the Lending, Credit and Finance (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2022 ...
The new legislation has: created an additional type of winding up of an insolvent company that can be initiated by a creditor and ordered by the court; and redefined the eligibility criteria for appointment as a liquidator in specified circumstances (including liquidator appointments under the new court ordered creditors’ winding up procedure) ...
The development of Bermuda's insurance regime is a result of prevailing market conditions and considerations. Recent enhancements to Bermuda's insurance regime have focused on commercial insurers (particularly in the life sector) and this trend looks to continue through and beyond 2023. That said, the BMA recently updated the Insurance Code of Conduct (the Code) in September 2022 ...
This trend is worth monitoring, and undoubtedly reflective of generational change as those who set up companies or transferred interests into these jurisdictions decades ago pass on and leave their families fighting for control of the assets they have left behind. A helpful new judgement from the Easter Caribbean Court of Appeal (the Appeal Court) handed down on 23 March 2022, provides helpful further insight into family disputes over wills ...
