CHANGES to Guernsey’s investment framework have made conducting funds business in the island simpler and quicker. At the beginning of the month, the Guernsey Financial Services Commission introduced a streamlined consent process for registered closed ended funds and removed the need for a principal manager for regulated open-ended schemes.

The move followed extensive industry consultation.

GuernseyFinance and the Guernsey Investment Funds Association have welcomed the move. They claim it is particularly good news for two of the major fund types serviced in the island – property and venture capital funds.

‘We wholeheartedly endorse these two changes,’ said Mike de Haaff, chairman of the GIFA, the industry body.

‘It really does make conducting funds business in Guernsey simpler and quicker, making the island an even more attractive proposition in the eyes of fund promoters and sponsors.’

He claimed the reforms would significantly reduce the time taken to set up funds and the route to the market.

The changes emanate from a review of investment funds legislation and are part of a number of recommendations made by a working party chaired by Advocate Peter Harwood.

The Harwood Report, as it was christened, proposed that the focus of regulation should be on the licensed Guernsey administrator, reducing the number and scope of funds that would be regulated directly.

It also recommended that changes be made to allow Guernsey service providers to administer non-Guernsey funds.

This month’s two changes are the first of the Harwood Report’s recommendations to be implemented, with the remainder set to come on-stream during 2007.

GuernseyFinance chief executive Peter Niven said: ‘We are delighted with the speed at which the recommendations have begun to be implemented.

‘In particular, the changes to the consent process for closed-ended funds will have a big impact. The island saw the greatest inflows of business within this sector during 2006 and this trend is continuing into 2007.’

GuernseyFinance is the promotional agency for the island’s finance industry.

‘Ultimately, this is another potent example of how the industry, the regulator and government is working hard to ensure that the island’s funds sector is in pole position to satisfy evolving client expectations,’ said Mr Niven.