JTC establishes the first Jersey ‘managed trust company’ for a mainland Chinese financial institution

Thursday 18 August 2016

Independent institutional and private client service provider JTC has demonstrated its market leading credentials by establishing the first ever Managed Trust Company (MTC) in Jersey for a mainland Chinese institution.

The new licence was issued by the Jersey Financial Services Commission on July 14th to Ark Trust (Jersey) Limited (Ark), a subsidiary of major Chinese firm Noah Wealth Management (Noah). Noah will now be able to offer Jersey trust structuring solutions to its client base of over 100,000, with JTC providing ongoing administration services for Ark and any trusts for which it acts as trustee.

To mark this milestone, a ceremony, media conference and reception was held in Hong Kong, attended by around 120 guests including JTC CEO and Chairman Nigel Le Quesne and Group Head of Private Client Services Iain Johns, who presented at the event highlighting Jersey’s strengths as a global centre for private wealth management. Attendees also included representatives of Noah, Jersey Finance, JTC Kensington (the Asian arm of the JTC Group) and selected Noah clients.

Founded in 2005, Noah is a global wealth and asset management services provider for high net worth individuals and enterprises in China, with 166 branches and sub-branches in 68 cities across the country. It distributes a wide array of wealth management products and develops and manages financial products denominated in both domestic and foreign currencies. In 2010 it became the first mainland Chinese wealth manager to be listed on the NYSE.

JTC is well placed to support the Asian wealth management market due to its well established links with Hong Kong, mainland China and Asia more widely through its strategic alliance with JTC Kensington. JTC Kensington has offices and a prominent presence in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Labuan, Malaysia and New Zealand.

Commenting on the new licence, Iain Johns said: “This is a major development for both Noah and JTC and the result of a great deal of work on all sides. Enabling Noah to offer its considerable Chinese client base access to Jersey’s high quality, robust trust structures represents a considerable opportunity not only for its clients, but for Noah, JTC and Jersey more widely. Our experience is that Chinese high net worth individuals and their families are requiring increasingly sophisticated support from international service providers, and we are pleased to be able to respond to that trend by partnering with Noah on this exciting initiative.”

Kenny Lam, Group President of Noah, said: “It is our honour to work with JTC. This is an important development for both Noah and JTC and will allow Noah to deliver a more comprehensive, more professional wealth heritage service to our clients. This is one of the major primary achievements in our global strategy.”

Richard Corrigan, Deputy CEO, Jersey Finance, added: “Jersey Finance continues to see the Greater China region as an area of growth and opportunity for the future prospects of Jersey’s finance industry and accordingly we are constantly looking to enhance our range of services to this vital market. As such, we are delighted to see a trailblazing local service provider working with such a major Chinese institution. This really is an incredibly positive step for Jersey that can open up significant potential and position us strongly as a jurisdiction in the Asia region.”