By Donnacha O’Connor (pictured), Partner at Dillon Eustace – Ireland has a well-established reputation as a leading funds centre, being home to 6,470 regulated investment funds as of December 2016 according to the Central Bank of Ireland, and as a leading fund servicing centre.

Locate Jersey is part of the Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture department within the Jersey Government (`States of Jersey'). Headed up by Director of International Trade, Wayne Gallichan (pictured), the role of Locate Jersey is to promote Jersey as a place to do business and to attract suitable businesses to the island, as well as HNW individuals; particularly those that are still economically active. 

Since 2012, the BVI has introduced three exciting and innovative investment fund products, namely: the BVI Approved Manager, the BVI Incubator Fund and the BVI Approved Fund. The Approved Manager was introduced at the end of 2012, followed by the Incubator Fund and Approved Fund in mid-2015, and each has been growing steadily since their launch. Currently, there are 140 Approved Managers, 21 Incubator Funds and 29 Approved Funds, based on figures published by the BVI Financial Services Commission (as of 30 September 2016). 

Q&A with Ivan Grech, Head of Business Development, FinanceMalta & Anatoli Grech, Executive Secretary of the Malta Funds Industry Association.

In a world where uncertainty appears to be replacing certainty, Guernsey is underlining its inherent stability amidst the changes that are affecting the regulatory, commercial and political realms. 

By Ras Sipko, KOGER – For the past four years, alternative fund managers with US investors have been coming to terms with the far-reaching effects of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act or FATCA. Some 60-plus countries have signed up to cooperate with the IRS in order to enforce FATCA and this year the compliance burden is set to grow yet again. On 31st May 2017, fund managers will have to submit their first filing under the OECD Common Reporting Standards initiative, which can best be thought of as global FATCA or 'GATCA'.

There are a number of encouraging developments in Ireland that would, on the surface, appear to place it on a strong footing to further enhance its reputation as Europe's leading onshore alternative funds jurisdiction. 

ML Capital, one of Ireland's leading management company groups, has grown to exceed EUR3 billion of AUM over the last 12 months. The growth trajectory over recent years has enabled ML Capital to evolve from being a leading UCITS platform operator to being more of a fund solutions provider to managers and investors alike. 

The Irish Government is keen to embrace the FinTech revolution as is evidenced by its IFS2020 strategy for International Financial Services, which aims to create 10,000 new jobs in the IFS sector by 2020. 

Alternative fund managers have had a myriad of regulatory change to contend with over recent years. In the early stages, many chose to take on the reporting burden themselves. This was very much a learning curve.