Panellists at a Guernsey funds technical masterclass in London have praised the jurisdiction for its “progressive nature” in tackling international regulatory developments.
Delegates were told that Guernsey’s response to initiatives such as the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and Common Reporting Standard (CRS) had set it apart from many of its competitor jurisdictions.
Dominic Wheatley, chief executive of Guernsey Finance, said: “It was great to hear that Guernsey’s approach to FATCA and CRS has struck a chord with international practitioners.”
“Our approach to these issues follows our established pattern of clarity and transparency of purpose allied with excellence and pragmatism in execution. This helps everyone know exactly where we stand and makes implementation as smooth as possible for the industry.”
Wheatley continued: “Similarly, it was encouraging to hear from the panellists how efficiently our dual regulatory regime in response to AIFMD is working. The Guernsey model maintains access to the EU, but also offers a non-AIFMD product for non-EU investors who don’t like the cost and compliance burden associated with AIFMD.”
Guernsey continues to liaise with the European Securities and Markets Authority regarding third country provisions and the expected introduction of full passporting for non-EU managers in respect of AIFMD.
The event took place at the British Museum on 28 January and attracted nearly 250 delegates. The debate panel consisted of leading figures from Guernsey’s funds community and the UK marketplace.
The UK experts were Steve Darrington, partner and CFO at Phoenix Equity; Debbie Anthony, tax Partner at Deloitte; and Kate Downey, partner at Kirkland & Ellis.
The Guernsey-based panellists were Grant Cameron, managing director at Investec, and Emma Bailey, director of the Investment Supervision and Policy Division at the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC). Barney Lee, Partner at Mourant Ozannes, moderated the debate.
One of the audience members, partner at CMS Cathy Pitt, commented: “Hearing what everyone is doing was useful and it's no surprise that the jurisdictions that have made private placement relatively easy are still getting access to a lot of funds. Hearing 'war stories' on FATCA is always really helpful.”
Iain Katimbo, Financial Controller at Valiance, said the panel achieved a good balance with the speakers which made the discussion very relevant.
“We, from a manager point of view, have a number of different aspects touching us. It was good to get a diversity as to what to expect as well as experience of what's happening at the moment. This forum was useful and I'd like to see more regular access to these kinds of comments,” he said.
The event was hosted by Guernsey Finance in conjunction with the Guernsey Investment Fund Association, while the sponsors were BNP Paribas Securities Services and Carey Group. The event was supported by HFM Week.
Guernsey Finance is also hosting the free to attend thought leadership event, ILS Insight London, at the British Museum in London on 18 March and its annual Funds Forum on 14 May.
