APPROVAL of the alternative investment fund managers directive by the EU does not mean Guernsey will step back from the matter.

Jarrod Cowley-Grimmond (pictured), director of finance sector development at Commerce and Employment, has led the States’ response to the directive since May 2009  and while he said the final draft was good news for the island’s fund industry, it was not the end of the story just yet.

While the framework of the directive is known, its implementing provisions still needed to be passed.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has to come up with the technical principles and the European Commission has to outline what standards ‘third countries’ such as Guernsey will have to meet in the assessment process for a passport ahead of a passport regime coming into play in 2015.

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