Consultation on Investment business fees (No.2 2022)

Summary

This is a JFSC consultation paper proposing changes to the fee rates and structure charged to investment business (IB) licence holders under the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998. It sets out a draft fees notice, invites comments, and explains the JFSC's budget and rationale for the increase. It applies to anyone applying for, or already holding, a licence to undertake investment business under the FSJL.

• Fee increase: Proposed overall fee rate increase of 8.8 percent (RPI of 3.8 percent plus 5 percent), with fees rounded to the nearest 5 pounds; targets raising approximately 1.6 million pounds from the IB sector in 2022.
• Fee structure: Draft fees notice (Appendix B) sets out application fees, annual fees (based on class of business and number of investment employees or funds), change of control fees, alteration fees, late payment fees, and late filing fees.
• Late fees: Late payment of annual fees incurs a 5 percent surcharge on unpaid amounts, escalating monthly; failure to supply employee data by the due date incurs a 200 pound administration fee, recurring monthly; late filing of documents incurs a 100 pound fee per month or part month.
• Effective date: The final fees notice, once settled, is intended to take effect on or before 1 May 2022, covering the period 1 May 2022 to 30 April 2023.
• Consultation process: Comments may be submitted directly to the JFSC or coordinated through Jersey Finance Limited by 26 April 2022.

As a consultation document, this paper does not itself impose binding obligations; it proposes a draft Notice of Fees for feedback before finalisation. Firms should note the draft due dates embedded in the draft notice (e.g. investment employee data submission and annual fee payment deadlines), which would become binding once the notice is finalised.

Key obligations

• Under the draft fees notice, a registered investment business person would be required to provide investment employee data to the JFSC by 15 June 2022
• Under the draft fees notice, annual fees would be due within 30 days from the invoice date (if already registered on 1 May 2022) or on the date an application is granted
• Under the draft fees notice, a registered person failing to file or deliver required documents by the due date would be liable for a late filing fee of 100 pounds per month or part month until filed
• Under the draft fees notice, failure to supply required fee-calculation information by the due date would incur a 200 pound administration fee recurring monthly until supplied
• Interested parties are invited to submit comments on the consultation to the JFSC or Jersey Finance by 26 April 2022

Applies to

persons applying for or holding a licence to undertake investment business under the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998, Registered Persons carrying on investment business (Classes A, B, C, D and E)

Deadlines

• 26 April 2022: Deadline for submitting consultation responses to Jersey Finance Limited or directly to the JFSC
• 1 May 2022: Target date for the final fees notice to take effect, and start of the fee period covered by the draft notice
• 30 April 2023: End of the fee period covered by the draft Investment Business Fees Notice
• 15 June 2022: Due date under the draft notice for provision of investment employee data
• 30 days from invoice date: Due date under the draft notice for payment of the annual fee for firms already registered on 1 May 2022
• 31 December 2022: If a person is registered after this date, the annual fee payable on registration is halved under the draft notice