The Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998: fund services business
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The Financial Services Law is how Jersey licenses the firms around a fund. It makes "fund services business" for an unclassified or unregulated fund a regulated activity. A firm doing it in or from Jersey, or a Jersey company or LLC doing it anywhere, needs JFSC registration unless an exemption applies. An unclassified fund's own certificate comes from the CIF Law, held by its company, trustee or general partner. This Law covers the businesses that serve the fund.
Scope and the core mechanism
The Law covers six classes of activity. Article 2(1) defines financial service business as investment business, trust company business, general insurance mediation, money service business, fund services business or AIF services business. This page focuses on the last two.
Article 2(10) sets the fund test. A person carries on fund services business if, by way of business, it fills a listed role for an unclassified or unregulated fund (Article 2(10)). Group (a) covers managers, managers of a managed entity, administrators, registrars, investment managers and advisers. Group (b) covers distributors and the subscription, redemption, premium receiving, policy proceeds paying, purchase and repurchase agents. Group (c) is the trustee, custodian or depositary, and group (d) any partner other than a limited partner. The list overlaps with the CIF Law's functionary Schedule but is not identical. The Schedule adds the company issuing units, and only this Law names the manager of a managed entity. Article 2(11) adds AIF services business: a legal person whose regular business is managing one or more AIFs, in the AIFMD or UK AIFM sense.
The engine is Article 7. No one may carry on financial service business in or from within Jersey unless registered. A Jersey company or Jersey LLC may not carry it on anywhere in the world without registration (Article 7(1)(b)). Holding out counts as carrying on (Article 7(3)). Breach is an offence with up to 7 years' imprisonment, a fine, or both (Article 7(4)). Article 3 and Schedule 2 take listed activities out of scope, and Article 4 lets the exemptions be varied by Order.
Key provisions
| Provision | What it says | The practical point |
|---|---|---|
| Fund services business (Art 2(10)) | Named roles in relation to an unclassified or unregulated fund. Registration is by class of business, and Article 8(2) lets classes be prescribed. | A registered person must act within the terms of its registration (Art 7(1)). A new role can mean a new class. |
| Registration duty (Art 7) | Registration is required to carry on business in or from Jersey. Jersey companies and LLCs need it wherever they act (Art 7(1)). | Two tests run side by side. Business in or from Jersey is caught wherever the firm is formed, and a Jersey company or LLC is caught wherever it works. |
| Application and grant (Arts 8 and 9) | The JFSC may register with or without conditions, or refuse. Refusal grounds include integrity, competence, financial standing, structure and the people behind the applicant (Art 9(3)). | The JFSC may require a report from an auditor, accountant or other approved qualified person on the application (Art 8(5)). |
| Conditions (Art 10) | Conditions can be set for all registered persons by Order or attached to one registration. Each breach carries up to 2 years' imprisonment, a fine, or both (Art 10(4)). | Conditions on the registration certificate are binding, and each breach is a separate criminal offence. |
| Codes of Practice (Art 19) | The JFSC may issue codes for financial service business. Breach is not itself an offence, but it can trigger JFSC powers and is admissible in court (Art 19(3) and (4)). | For fund service providers the relevant code is the Code of Practice for Fund Services Business, issued under Article 19. Its current edition date is in To verify. |
| Unregistered contracts (Art 22) | A contract made in the course of financial service business in breach of Article 7(1) cannot be enforced by the provider. Trust company business is excluded. The other side may recover money paid plus compensation (Art 22(1) and (2)). | Relief is discretionary. The Royal Court may allow enforcement if that is just and equitable, with particular regard to whether the provider was reasonably unaware (Art 22(4)). |
| GP exemption (Sch 2, para 21) | This excludes a company that only acts as GP or trustee of unregulated funds. It may serve one partnership or unit trust, or several in a single scheme. A registered manager of a managed entity must provide its registered office, and its name must be notified to the JFSC (Sch 2, para 21(1)). | The exclusion tolerates the company investing in or holding interests in the fund (para 21(2)). Other roles fall outside it, and another exemption would then be needed. |
Amendment history
| Date | Instrument | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 March 1999 | Investment Business (Jersey) Law 1998 (L.32/1998) | The original Law. It covered investment business only, and Article 6 commenced on 1 July 1999. |
| 27 Nov 2000 | Financial Services (Extension) (Jersey) Law 2000 (L.25/2000) | Renamed the Law. It substituted Articles 1 and 2 to widen the scope beyond investment business. |
| 14 Nov 2007 | Financial Services (Amendment of Law) (No. 2) (Jersey) Regulations 2007 (R&O.147/2007) | Inserted Article 2(10). Fund services business became a registrable class of financial service business. |
| 2 April 2013 | Financial Services (Amendment of Law) (No. 4) (Jersey) Regulations 2012 (R&O.143/2012) | Added Article 2(11). AIF services business joined the Law alongside the AIF Regulations 2012. |
| 11 Dec 2024 | Law Revision Board item 2024/9 | A formal revision. It deleted a Part 1 division heading and starts the consolidated version now in force. |
What it works with
This Law regulates the service businesses. The Collective Investment Funds (Jersey) Law 1988 grants certificates for unclassified funds (Articles 8 to 8B). It also grants permits for functionaries of recognized funds (Article 5); see the CIF Law page. The Code of Practice for Fund Services Business sits under Article 19 here. The Code of Practice for Certified Funds sits under the CIF Law and binds the fund itself.
The Jersey Private Fund depends on this Law too. Under the JPF Guide, its designated service provider must be an existing Jersey full-substance entity registered for fund services business class V, U, X or ZG. A "very private" JPF, with 15 or fewer offers to professional or eligible investors, may use a provider registered for any fund services or trust company class. In Guernsey one statute does both jobs: the Protection of Investors Law 2020 licenses providers (section 1) and declares schemes (section 8). See the POI Law page. Compare the registered scheme rules and the PIF Rules 2025 for the product side. The sub-threshold AIFM table shows where Jersey managers sit against the AIFMD thresholds. The domicile comparison sets the wider choice.
In practice: Article 7(1)(b) follows the company as well as the office. A Jersey-incorporated manager that does all its work abroad still needs registration, or an exemption, before it acts. Without one, contracts made in the course of that business can be unenforceable by it under Article 22, subject only to the Royal Court's discretion.
To verify
- Classes of fund services business. The detailed registration classes (such as the class letters the JPF Guide cites) are prescribed by Order under Article 8(2). Confirm the current class list before naming a class on an application.
- Exemption Orders. The Financial Services (Investment Business (Fund Services Business Exemption)) (Jersey) Order 2007 and other exemption Orders sit outside the Law text. Confirm which remain in force.
- Current Fund Services Business Code. The copy linked above took effect on 14 November 2007 and states it was revised on 1 January 2021. A later edition may now be in force. Confirm the current edition and its effective date on the JFSC site.
- AIF marketing permission. Schedule 2, paragraph 23(2) requires JFSC written permission before some exempt persons market an AIF in the UK or EEA. Confirm the current permission process with the JFSC's AIF guidance.
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