Repeal of the Control of Borrowing Framework Consultation Feedback Paper (2025-11)

Summary

This is a Jersey Government feedback paper summarising responses to its consultation on repealing the Control of Borrowing (Jersey) Law 1947 and the Control of Borrowing (Jersey) Order 1958 (together, the COB Framework). It reports broad industry support for repeal, subject to careful transitional arrangements, and sets out the Government's intended direction for follow up law drafting and JFSC guidance. No legislative change is made by this paper itself; it is a policy status update ahead of drafting instructions to the Legislative Drafting Office.

• Legacy COBO Consents and Conditions: Existing COBO Conditions on financial services businesses (e.g. ownership, control, director residence) will be re-expressed as licence conditions under relevant Regulatory Laws (FSL, SBL, etc.) with automatic novation at repeal, supported by transitional guidance.
• Jersey Private Funds and legacy funds: A consensus has emerged to establish a new standalone law for JPFs to preserve the current simple regime; legacy funds (VPF, PPF, COBO only funds) remain within the regulatory perimeter.
• Refusal and oversight powers: JFSC refusal powers will be embedded directly in each Product Law (CJL, ILPL, LLCL, LLPL, LPL, LPCR, SLPL, Trusts Law) on objective grounds, with a published Refusal and Oversight Policy Statement and a right of appeal to the Royal Court; revocation/deregistration will generally continue to require Royal Court approval.
• Prospectuses and foreign issuers: Repeal of prospectus-related COBO consents is broadly supported, but a new framework is planned to protect local retail investors from foreign issuers circulating prospectuses into Jersey.
• Exemptions relying on relevant consent: Exemptions currently conditioned on holding a COBO 'relevant consent' will persist post-repeal but must satisfy other existing legal conditions (e.g. investor warnings) instead.
• Digital issuers and TCBs: Cautious support for interim oversight of digital issuers via the TCB Code, with ongoing JFSC/Digital Assets Working Group discussion on a possible bespoke digital assets regime.
• Registrar activity: Government plans to close a potential gap by adding relevant Registrar-related activity as a Trust Company Business class of business and referencing it in the TCB Code.

Next steps involve Government liaising with the Legislative Drafting Office, the JFSC, Jersey Finance and industry bodies to turn these positions into legislative drafting instructions and transitional guidance; a phased implementation is preferred given the scale of changes. Stakeholders wishing to comment further can contact growthfs@gov.je as the reforms develop.

Applies to

financial services businesses, trust company businesses, Jersey Private Funds, legacy funds (VPF, PPF, COBO only funds), digital asset issuers / virtual asset service providers, entities relying on COBO consents or exemptions, fund administrators and product-law regulated entities (companies, limited partnerships, LLCs, LLPs, unit trusts)

Deadlines

• 11 July to 30 September 2025: Period during which the underlying Consultation on repeal of the COB Framework was open for responses (now closed; referenced for context only).