Consequential amendments to Codes to take account of Jersey legislative changes regarding Brexit

Summary

This is a JFSC Position Paper explaining consequential amendments made to three fund related Codes of Practice to align them with Jersey legislative changes triggered by Brexit. The changes take effect from 1 January 2021, the date the UK fully leaves the EU's Single Market, and are designed to preserve the regulatory status quo for Jersey funds business rather than introduce new substantive requirements.

The underlying trigger is the European Union (United Kingdom Exit) Alternative Investment Funds (Jersey) Regulations 2019, which amend the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998, the AIF Regulations and the AIF Order so that Jersey legislation continues to function correctly once the UK is no longer an EU member. The Codes are updated purely to reflect terminology changes flowing from those Regulations; no formal industry consultation was required because the changes are consequential on legislative change.

• AIF Code: Definitions updated for UK AIF, UK AIFM and UK Depositary concepts, including renaming Directive AIF to Directive/UK AIFM Regulations AIF, EU AIF to EU/UK AIF, Non-EU AIF to Non-EU/UK AIF, and equivalent changes for AIFM terms.
• CIF Code: Definitions amended, particularly Principle 9 concerning compliance with applicable AIF Code sections, and the Jersey Eligible Investor Fund Guide updated to refer to EU/UK AIFM rather than EU AIFM for depositary requirements.
• FSB Code: Definitions amended, particularly Principle 8 concerning compliance with applicable AIF Code sections.

The JFSC states these changes do not substantially alter the regulatory position of Jersey AIFs marketed in the UK or EU, and industry was previously alerted via a Joint Statement from the Government of Jersey and the JFSC in October 2020. No response to the Position Paper is requested; questions can be directed to named JFSC policy contacts.

Applies to

Alternative Investment Funds and AIF Services Business, Certified Funds, Fund Services Business, Jersey funds industry participants

Deadlines

• 1 January 2021: Effective date for the legislative amendments (the Regulations) to the FS(J)L, AIF Regulations and AIF Order, and for the consequential changes to the AIF Code, CIF Code and FSB Code to take effect.