JERSEY Finance has hailed the new Limited Liability Company legislation as a ‘significant development for Jersey’s funds sector’ and one which it expects will enhance the Island’s proposition as a leading jurisdiction supporting US alternative fund managers.
Officially approved by the Government of Jersey this month, the law, which came into force last week, expands Jersey’s existing comprehensive suite of private fund vehicles, adding a new structure which is intended to be familiar to US private equity, venture capital and other alternative fund professionals.
Benefiting from a simple registration process and flexible governance requirements, the Jersey LLC, which will have separate legal personality and can be classed as a ‘body corporate’, is expected to offer a number of key opportunities, and can be used for issuing securities, as a manager vehicle and as a fund entity in conjunction with the Jersey Private Fund regime.
The structure also provides certainty for US managers looking to fundraise within the EU, with the Jersey LLC able to market into Europe, subject to the usual fund permissions from the Jersey Financial Services Commission, under the Alternative Fund Managers Directive third-country private placement rules.
Elliot Refson, head of funds at Jersey Finance, said: ‘Following a period of extensive consultation, the introduction of the Jersey LLC is a significant development for Jersey’s funds sector and bolsters our ability considerably to support US fund managers.
‘The Jersey LLC has been deliberately and specifically developed to be a structure US managers and investors are familiar with, backed up by Jersey’s world-class ecosystem for cross-border alternative funds, our leading regulatory framework and our position as a non-EU European time-zone hub.
‘Through the Jersey LLC, US fund managers will now be able to take advantage of seamless marketing into the EU via national private placement regimes, underlining our proposition as the ideal gateway into Europe.’
Philip Pirecki, Jersey Finance’s lead in the Americas, added: ‘LLCs are hugely popular in the US private markets space, with advisers, managers and investors very familiar with the structure. In that light, we see significant opportunity for the Jersey LLC to support their needs.
‘Since opening our office in New York three years ago, we have seen our book of US business increase significantly.
‘By adding the LLC structure to our proposition, we are expanding our solutions for the US market even further, as we look to meet the cross-border needs of US managers and sophisticated investors.’
The introduction of the Jersey LLC follows a period of sustained growth for Jersey’s funds industry in relation to the US market, with funds business from US promoters more than doubling over the past five years.
