Consultation Paper No. 3 2018: Proposals to change fee rates (AIF, CIF, FSB, CoBO, IB and QSMA)

Summary

This is a JFSC consultation paper proposing changes to fee rates charged under several Jersey funds and investment business regimes, including draft revised fees notices for AIF, CIF, FSB, CoBO, IB and QSMA. It applies to any person applying for, or already holding, a registration, certificate, permit, consent or exemption under the relevant Jersey funds and investment business laws. Comments were invited from industry, with the JFSC intending to finalise and publish the fees notices later in June 2018.

• General increase: FSB, AIF and CIF fee rates (including the fee cap) proposed to rise by 3.6%, matching the most recent Jersey RPI inflation figure.
• CoBO fees: CoBO fee rates proposed to rise by 3.6%, except JPF annual fees which are proposed to double from £500 to £1,000.
• QSMA fees: QSMA fee rates proposed to increase by 7.5%, consistent with the prior year's consultation.
• Late payment wording: Proposed wording change clarifying that interest on late paid fees becomes payable from the due date.
• Rounding: Fee rates will be rounded to the nearest £5.
• Administration: Fees will continue to be administered and invoiced via firms' myJFSC portal accounts.

The paper explains that the fee increases are driven by a continued decline in the number of pools of assets (the key charging metric for CIF/FSB) despite rising assets under management, and by the JFSC's multi-year target to raise regulatory fee income by 15% above 2015 levels by 2019. Draft fees notices for each regime, with effective dates of 1 July 2018 to 30 June/July 2019, are attached as appendices for review.

Applies to

Fund services business (FSB) registrants, Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) and AIF services business registrants, Collective Investment Fund (CIF) permit holders and certificate holders, Control of Borrowing (CoBO) Order consent holders, including Jersey Private Fund (JPF) related entities, Investment business (IB) registrants, Qualifying Segregated Managed Account (QSMA) operators

Deadlines

• 8 June 2018: Deadline for interested parties to submit comments on the consultation paper to Jersey Finance Limited or the JFSC.
• 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019: Proposed effective period for the draft AIF, AIFSB and FSB fees notices.
• 1 July 2018 to 30 July 2019: Proposed effective period for the draft CIF fees notice.
• 31 July in the subsequent charging period: Due date for QSMA fee payment in respect of a subsequent charging period.
• later in June (2018): JFSC intends to publish consultation feedback and the final fees notices.