LLC introduction enhances Jersey proposition for regional alternative fund managers
LLC introduction enhances Jersey proposition for regional alternative fund managers
UAE, 14 March 2023: Jersey Finance has welcomed the introduction of new Limited Liability Company (LLC) legislation, which is anticipated to significantly enhance the jurisdiction’s proposition as a leading international finance centre supporting alternative fund managers in the UAE and the region.
Officially approved by the Government of Jersey on the 7th of February, the law, which enters into force on 14 February, expands Jersey’s existing comprehensive suite of private fund vehicles, adding a new structure that is intended to be familiar to private equity, venture capital and other alternative fund professionals.
Benefitting from a simple registration process and flexible governance requirements, the Jersey LLC, which will have a separate legal personality and can be classed as a ‘body corporate’, is expected to offer a number of key opportunities, including being used for issuing securities, as a manager vehicle, and as a fund entity in conjunction with the hugely successful Jersey Private Fund (JPF) regime.
The structure also provides certainty for global 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 (JFSC), under the Alternative Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) third country private placement rules.
Elliot Refson, Head of Funds, 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 global fund managers.
“The Jersey LLC has been deliberately and specifically developed to be a structure global 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, global 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.”
An Kelles, Jersey Finance Director- GCC, added: “LLCs are hugely popular in the global private markets space, with advisers, managers, and investors familiar with the structure. In that light, we see significant opportunities for the Jersey LLC to support the market in the Gulf region too.
“Since opening our office in the DIFC five years ago, we have seen our book of UAE business increase. By adding the LLC structure to our proposition, we are expanding our solutions for the UAE and wider Gulf region market even further, as we look to meet the cross-border needs of Gulf region private fund managers and sophisticated investors.”
Jersey is a well-established partner for the Gulf market’s financial sector, and the LLC will appeal as the go-to securities issuing or manager vehicle or to structure as a Jersey private fund.
