What's Jersey ever done for us?

Thursday 20 October 2016

Jersey Finance has published two new research studies suggesting that the Island supports tens of thousands of jobs, and billions of pounds of investment in both the UK, and separately, in the EU.

The two research studies, both conducted by Capital Economics, were presented to politicians and business leaders in London this week. The first states that Jersey’s finance industry facilitates almost €190bn of foreign investment into the EU (excluding the UK) supporting in the order of 88,000 jobs across those EU Member States.

The second report on the Island's contribution to the UK economy adds to a previous study conducted in  2013. It suggests that Jersey supports an estimated 250,000 British jobs, of which 190,000 are from foreign investment alone, and adds £14bn to the UK economy.

Jersey Finance says that the two new reports, "...are aimed at providing a comprehensive and up to date assessment of the impact of Jersey’s finance industry to the UK and the rest of the EU. Key points from the reports include: 

• Jersey is a conduit for €188bn of foreign investment in to the European Union (excluding the UK), which is equivalent to 4% of the bloc’s total net international investment and supports in the order of 88,000 European jobs
• Around one third of all fund assets administered and managed in Jersey are located in EU countries other than the UK
• Jersey is estimated to be a conduit for almost £500 billion of foreign investment into the UK, equivalent to 5% of the total stock of foreign owned assets in the country
• Jersey banks upstream £89bn of deposits to UK banks, providing 1.5% of the funding of the whole UK banking sector."

 The research also emphasises that Jersey is now custodian of €1.7 trillion of wealth in its banks, trust companies, corporate structures and fund vehicles, with around two-fifths (37%) originating from investors outside of Europe.

Geoff Cook, CEO, Jersey Finance, said:

“It is really important to have open discussions about what it is that Jersey does to generate value in the global economy and over the past few years we have sought to do that and differentiate ourselves as an IFC by producing a series of thought leadership papers and reports. Our efforts this week to engage with senior policy makers and influencers in the UK and beyond were positively received and will be critical in telling Jersey’s story in a meaningful way and in an evolving and complex environment.

“These latest figures demonstrate that Jersey shares an important and positive partnership with both the UK and the rest of the EU, supporting jobs, facilitating overseas investment and encouraging growth. At the same time, the research also shows that cross-border financial flows are a global phenomenon and Jersey’s strategy of engaging increasingly with markets beyond Europe, including Asia and Africa, will become more and more important.”

You can find the EU report here, and the UK report here.