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More than 300 delegates have signed up to attend the Guernsey funds technical masterclass in London at the end of the month.
The event, which takes place at the British Museum on Wednesday 28 January, will showcase Guernsey’s funds offering and demonstrate how the Island is positioning itself amid the latest regulatory issues.
The event is now fully subscribed but there is a waiting list for potential attendees.
Dominic Wheatley, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance – the promotional agency for the Island’s finance industry internationally, said: “I am delighted that the event is proving so popular and it is particularly pleasing that the vast majority of delegates are set to be from the London fund community.
“This demonstrates the huge interest in Guernsey as a funds centre and how we are responding to the latest international initiatives which are coming down the pipeline to all of us working in the investment world. It also recognises Guernsey’s position as a thought leader within the funds arena.
“I am looking forward to hearing from our panellists about how they see these regulatory and tax issues playing out and how Guernsey’s response will enable the Island to maintain its status as a leading funds centre in the future.”
Barney Lee, Partner at Mourant Ozannes, will provide a short introduction to the event and moderate a panel debate comprising leading figures from Guernsey’s funds community and the UK marketplace.
The UK experts are Steve Darrington, Partner and Chief Financial Officer at Phoenix Equity; Debbie Anthony, Tax Partner at Deloitte; and Kate Downey, Partner at Kirkland & Ellis. The Guernsey-based panellists include Grant Cameron, Managing Director at Investec and Emma Bailey, Director of the Investment Supervision and Policy Division at the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC).
Their discussion will examine how the funds landscape is being changed by regulatory and tax initiatives such as the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), Common Reporting Standards (CRS) and Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS).
The event will also look at the impact of the Volcker Rule, the evolution of the Channel Islands Securities Exchange (CISE) and substance requirements in the funds arena.
Mr Lee said: “Irrespective of whether it is aimed at the alternatives world, regulation is increasingly something we deal with on a day-to-day basis. We'll be discussing the effectiveness of Guernsey's response to some of the more recent changes applied in Guernsey and looking to those that we're likely to face over the coming 12-18 months. My job will be to engage the panellists on the technical aspects of how they see these initiatives developing, how this will impact their businesses and how Guernsey has prospered and can continue to prosper.”
The event, titled ‘Why Guernsey funds will continue to prosper: a technical analysis’, takes place from 4pm, starting with registration and coffee and concluding with a networking drinks reception at 6pm.
It is hosted by Guernsey Finance in conjunction with the Guernsey Investment Fund Association (GIFA). Sponsors are BNP Paribas Securities Services and Carey Group. The event is supported by HFM Week.
Although the event is oversubscribed, there is a waiting list and interested parties are encouraged to register their interest in attending by contacting Jennifer Baudains by email jen@guernseyfinance.com or telephone +44 (0) 1481 720071.
