Continued uncertainty over the UK's Brexit negotiations to secure market access between the EU and UK underline the certainty of Guernsey's continued third-country positioning for investment funds in Europe.
The UK and EU failed to meet the target of 30 June to secure access for the well-established AIFMD and UCITS routes for funds marketing into the UK and the EU 27.
Guernsey continues to have well-established cooperation agreements in place, which leaves the island in a strong and certain position.
The island was one of the first jurisdictions to be approved by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to provide third-country passporting without conditions. The island's non-EU status and existing cooperation agreements means it will continue to be able to have access to market into Europe via the well-trodden National Private Placement Regimes (NPPR).
"With Brexit uncertainty for the financial services sector both in the UK and EU is expected to continue at least into 2022, opportunities to use the well-established AIFMD and UCITS route for fund marketing into Europea are likely to be lost to UK promoters," said Shaun Robert, Director of International Fund Management, which provides independent non-EU manager (AIFM) services as part of the Guernsey-headquartered Praxis Group.
"Given that our current access to market into Europe via National Private Placement Regimes will be unaffected, we see this as an opportunity for Guernsey."
For more information about Guernsey's finance industry please visit www.weareguernsey.com.
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