private funds

Who is caught

The instruments indexed here concern the range of lightly regulated and private investment vehicles available in Jersey and the service providers and functionaries connected to them. The documents span the current Jersey Private Fund regime, legacy fund categories, segregated managed account arrangements, and the Alternative Investment Fund regime.

• Jersey Private Funds: A JPF is a private investment vehicle that pools capital on a risk-spreading basis, structured as a company, LLC, partnership or unit trust (Jersey or equivalent foreign form), whose units are offered only to a restricted group of investors so as not to constitute an offer to the public under the CIF Law.
• Designated Service Providers: Each JPF must appoint a DSP registered for Fund Services Business (class V, U, X or ZG), or, for a 'very private' JPF of 15 or fewer offers/investors, any FSB or TCB class; DSPs carry many of the ongoing compliance responsibilities.
• Private Placement Funds: PPFs are closed-ended funds offered to no more than 50 Professional or Sophisticated Investors. Following introduction of the JPF regime in April 2017, new PPFs can no longer be established and the guide is retained only for existing PPFs.
• Qualifying Segregated Managed Accounts: QSMAs are discretionary segregated accounts run by hedge fund managers for a single family group or an employer and its senior employees, replicating a reference fund's strategy, operated under an exemption from the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998.
• AIFs, AIFMs and depositaries: The Alternative Investment Funds regime captures AIFs, self-managed, sub-threshold and above-threshold AIFMs, and Jersey depositaries of AIFs with a UK or EU/EEA AIFM.
• Functionaries of professional investor regulated schemes: Managers, advisers, administrators, general partners, trustees, custodians and similar functionaries of professional investor regulated schemes fall within the restricted investment business regime.

Investor eligibility is a recurring gateway. For a JPF, investors must be professional investors, make a minimum commitment of GBP 250,000 (or equivalent), or otherwise qualify as eligible investors under Annex A, and retail investors generally cannot invest directly. Comparable minimum subscription and investor-type thresholds apply to professional investor regulated schemes and to PPFs.

Sources: Financial Services (Investment Business (Qualifying Segregated Managed Accounts – Exemption)) (Jersey) Order 2014 · Financial Services (Investment Business (Restricted Investment Business – Exemption)) (Jersey) Order 2001 · Guidance Note: AIFMD Regime: Exemptions and JFSC Forms · Jersey Private Fund Guide · Jersey Private Placement Fund Guide

Key duties

The continuing obligations fall largely on funds and their service providers, with several carrying fixed deadlines. Duties cluster around authorisation and service-provider appointment, investor disclosures, AML/CFT compliance, and periodic reporting.

Authorisation and appointments

• DSP appointment: A JPF must appoint a Designated Service Provider and cannot change its DSP without prior JFSC approval; a PPF must be administered by a JFSC-registered administrator providing the registered office and AML/CFT support.
• Restricted offering: JPF unit offers must be confined to a restricted group of investors; an existing JPF wishing to rely on the 2025 JPF Order and exceed 50 offers must obtain a new relevant consent dated on or after 6 August 2025.
• Local presence: A JPF is expected to have Jersey resident director(s); Jersey-incorporated PPFs (or their manager, general partner or trustee) must have at least two Jersey resident directors with appropriate experience.
• Listing approval: A JPF may only be listed with the prior approval of an officer of the JFSC.

Investor disclosures

• Investment warning: Investors relying on the professional or eligible investor route must acknowledge in writing receipt and acceptance of the prescribed investment warning and disclosure statement; a PPF's Private Placement Memorandum must contain the prescribed disclosures and a separately acknowledged warning.
• QSMA warning: A QSMA operator must give each participant the written QSMA warning at the qualification date and each new participant date and obtain written acknowledgement.
• Scheme warnings: Functionaries relying on the restricted investment business exemption must ensure each investor has received and signed the prescribed investment warning; non-grandfathered schemes also require a minimum subscription of GBP 250,000 or professional investor status.

AML/CFT compliance

• Schedule 2 status: JPFs established in or managed from Jersey, and their DSPs, are Schedule 2 businesses and must comply with the Money Laundering (Jersey) Order 2008 and the AML/CFT/CPF Handbook.
• Positive confirmation: DSPs must be able to positively confirm AML/CFT compliance on the annual return; failure to confirm is treated as a potential internal controls failure.
• Service provider due diligence: DSPs must carry out due diligence under Part G Paragraph 6(ii) of the JPF Guide to ensure promoters have ensured all service providers are fit and proper.

Reporting and deadlines

• JPF Annual Return: DSPs must complete the JPF Annual Compliance Return accurately and in full, including the launch date field, via the JFSC online authorisations tool (paper submissions are no longer accepted).
• Material issue notification: DSPs must notify material issues (such as a JPF winding up or investors not receiving required disclosures) via the prescribed online form within 28 calendar days of becoming aware, rather than waiting for the annual return.
• Depositary notification: FSBs and Recognized Fund Functionaries acting as trustee, custodian or depositary to an AIF with a UK or EU/EEA AIFM must submit the AIF CODES/DEPOSITARY Notification Form within 28 days of appointment; AIF/EXEMPT notification forms must be submitted before any UK or EU/EEA marketing.
• QSMA reporting: A QSMA operator must notify the Commission of reliance on the exemption, deal with all clients fairly, and report the number of QSMAs and aggregated value of investments under management no later than 15 business days after each calendar quarter.
• Fund statistics: Fund statistics reporting moves from quarterly to annual, with a reporting date of 30 June and a submission deadline of 31 July, first due in 2026; supervised persons must also complete the annual supervisory risk data collection within its stated window.

Fees

• Annual and application fees: AIF, CIF, JPF, CoBO, FSB and QSMA registrants pay annual and application fees under the JFSC Fees Notices, which have been increased in successive years (for example 12.5% for 2020/21 and 11.0%/11.1% for 2022/23, with JPF-specific rates in some cycles).
• Payment timing: Invoiced fees are due within 30 days of the invoice date; QSMA and CIF subsequent-period fees are generally due by 31 July.

Sources: Financial Services (Investment Business (Qualifying Segregated Managed Accounts – Exemption)) (Jersey) Order 2014 · Financial Services (Investment Business (Restricted Investment Business – Exemption)) (Jersey) Order 2001 · Guidance Note: AIFMD Regime: Exemptions and JFSC Forms · Jersey Private Fund Guide · Jersey Private Funds Annual Compliance Returns · Jersey Private Placement Fund Guide · Updates to our 2025 supervisory risk data collection · Feedback on Consultation No. 5 2022: Fund Fees · Feedback on Consultation No. 3 2021: Fund Services Business Fees · Feedback on Consultation Paper No. 2 2020 - Fund Services Business, AIF, CIF, CoBO and QSMA Fees

Exemptions and carve-outs

Several instruments create exemptions from the general registration or licensing requirements of the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 or the AIF Regulations, each conditioned on meeting specified criteria.

• QSMA exemption: Operators of Qualifying Segregated Managed Accounts are exempt from most of the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 for their QSMA activity, provided the Schedule 1 account conditions and Schedule 2 operator conditions are met (including a single operator, no operator ownership or custody of assets, permitted family or employment connections, a minimum required commitment of US$1 million, and use of only qualifying hedge fund strategies). Certain enforcement, conduct and Commission-powers articles continue to apply as if the operator were registered.
• Restricted investment business exemption: A functionary of a professional investor regulated scheme carrying on only restricted investment business is exempt from Article 7 registration, but Articles 12, 23 to 26, 28, 32 to 39 and 41 continue to apply. Qualification depends on investors having signed the prescribed warning and, for non-grandfathered schemes, meeting the GBP 250,000 minimum or professional investor test.
• AIFMD marketing exemption: AIFs and AIFMs may be exempt from AIF Regulations or registration requirements where the JFSC has granted prior written permission for the AIF to be marketed in the UK, an EU member state, or another EEA state where AIFMD applies.
• Very private JPFs: A 'very private' JPF making 15 or fewer offers/investors may appoint any FSB or TCB class as its DSP rather than a class V, U, X or ZG Fund Services Business provider.
• JPF carve-outs: A JPF is not required to have a prospectus or PPM unless otherwise required by law, does not need Code of Practice for Certified Funds compliance, requires no personal questionnaires and no promoter approval, and an auditor is optional.

The depositary application form for closed-ended private equity or real estate AIFs does not apply to entities carrying on fund services business under the FS(J)L or to recognized fund functionaries acting as trustee, custodian or depositary. New Private Placement Funds can no longer be established following the introduction of the JPF regime.

Sources: Financial Services (Investment Business (Qualifying Segregated Managed Accounts – Exemption)) (Jersey) Order 2014 · Financial Services (Investment Business (Restricted Investment Business – Exemption)) (Jersey) Order 2001 · Guidance Note: AIFMD Regime: Exemptions and JFSC Forms · Jersey Private Fund Guide · Jersey Private Placement Fund Guide · Approval as a depositary of a closed-ended private equity or real estate AIF application form

Enforcement and penalties

Enforcement in the indexed documents takes two main forms: civil financial penalties against firms and statutory directions (prohibitions) against individuals, together with late-payment surcharges on unpaid fees.

Civil financial penalty

• Garfield Bennett Trust Company: The JFSC imposed a civil financial penalty of GBP 86,803.19 on Garfield Bennett Trust Company Limited on 31 July 2025, under the Financial Services Commission (Jersey) Law 1998, for negligent contraventions of the Trust Company Business Code and AML/CFT Code as DSP to five JPFs between October 2020 and March 2022. The figure reflects a 50% Stage One discount for early settlement, and no customer or investor loss was identified.

Directions against individuals

• Article 23 prohibitions: The JFSC has issued directions under Article 23 of the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 against former officers of Horizon Trustees (Jersey) Limited (David Francis, Sarah Roberts, Timothy McKimmon and, in a now-superseded notice, James Nicholls), prohibiting them from performing functions for, being employed by, or holding positions in any registered person, with equivalent directions under the Banking Business, Collective Investment Funds and Insurance Business Laws in several cases.
• Offences: Breach of the directions by the named individual is an offence under Article 23(15), and any person who knowingly allows the individual to act in contravention commits an offence under Article 23(15A). Directions remain in force until a successful application for variance or withdrawal under Article 23(6).

Fee surcharges and criminal exposure

• Late payment surcharge: Unpaid fees attract a 5% late payment surcharge on the unpaid principal, applied the day after the due date and on the first day of each subsequent month.
• AML criminal breach: The annual compliance return guidance notes that AML/CFT non-compliance by a DSP may constitute a criminal breach requiring immediate remediation or referral to the Attorney General.

Sources: Jersey Private Funds Annual Compliance Returns · Feedback on Consultation No. 5 2022: Fund Fees · Feedback on Consultation No. 3 2021: Fund Services Business Fees · Feedback on Consultation Paper No. 2 2020 - Fund Services Business, AIF, CIF, CoBO and QSMA Fees · Garfield Bennett Trust Company Limited (2025-08-06) · Mr David Jonathan Francis (R) (2018-05-25) · Mrs Sarah Jane Roberts (R) (2015-11-06) · Mr James Nicholls - superseded (2015-01-23) · Mr Timothy James McKimmon (R) (2014-12-02)