Press Release - 28 May 2003

The Jersey Financial Services Commission has today 28 May 2003 issued its quarterly report for the period 1 January 2003 to 31 March 2003.

Headlines:

• Bank deposits rose during the quarter by 11.7% to £156 billion.
• Collective Investment Funds values fell by 8.9%.
• 23 new Collective Investment Funds have been authorised during this quarter.
  

Bank Deposits

Jersey bank deposits have increased to £156 billion. This is an increase of 11.7% against the last quarter and of 15.2% against the same quarter last year (see Appendix B). This notable increase in cash deposits may be at least partly due to investors becoming more risk averse as a result of uncertainty in the global equity markets.

The number of banking licences reduced to 55. This slight decrease in the number of licences is due to these banks either withdrawing from Jersey due to the reorganisation of their group structures or merging with existing banks.

Figure 1

BANK DEPOSITS
(£ MILLION) AS AT 31 MARCH FOR EACH OF THE PAST FOUR YEARS

Funds

As of the 31 March 2003 the value of funds in the Island stood at £96 billion. This is a decrease of 8.9% since the last quarter. This decrease is likely to be due to the continual fall in the value of the underlying portfolios due to the poor performance of the stock markets. Compared with the same quarter last year, the values of funds have decreased by 10.3% (See Appendix A).

The number of funds for this quarter has however increased from 449 to 472. Sub-funds have increased to 1,877 since the last quarter.

23 new Collective Investment Funds have been authorised during this quarter.

Figure 2

COLLECTIVE INVESTMENT FUNDS
(£ MILLION) AS AT 31 MARCH FOR EACH OF THE PAST FOUR YEARS

Company Incorporations

The total number of incorporations for this quarter was 533, which shows a decrease of 40% over the same period last year. This reflects the state of the global economy and the changes in UK legislation, in particular, those concerning offshore companies engaged in property holding activities. It should be noted however that there was an increase of 10.1% in company incorporations compared to the quarter ended 31 December 2002.

The number of 'fast track' incorporations for this quarter was 196 and the number of normal company incorporations for this quarter was 337. (See Notes to Editors.)

Against their self-imposed target of 95%, Registry recorded a 95% rate for normal two-day incorporations and a 92.1% rate for fast track companies for the year as a whole. (See Notes to Editors.)

Figure 3 (see also Appendix C) illustrates the number of new company incorporations throughout the past four years.

Figure 3

TOTAL NEW COMPANY INCORPORATIONS IN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF THE PAST FOUR YEARS

Investment Business

The total funds under investment management (class B of the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998) stood at £28 billion. When compared to the same quarter last year, this shows a decrease of 10.5%. Against the last quarter this represents a 12.6% decrease, providing further evidence of the lack of investor confidence in the global markets.

As at 31 March 2003 the total number of clients of investment managers was 21,567.

Insurance Business

There were six new Category A licences issued during this first quarter of the year, no new Category B Insurance permits and no permits were cancelled.

Therefore as at 31 March 2003, there were 162 Category A permits in issue and 19 Category B permits.

Figure 4

ALL INSURANCE LICENCES AS AT 31 MARCH FOR EACH OF THE PAST
FOUR YEARS

Conclusion

Richard Pratt, Director General of the Commission, commenting on the quarterly statistics said today, "It is good to note from these results that Jersey remains a jurisdiction of choice, despite the ongoing fall in equity markets. Against this background of weak world financial markets the Island continues to offer attractive financial services and investment opportunities. There is little doubt that the current state of the world economy is providing a difficult environment in which to work, but Jersey continues to show that a strong, well regulated jurisdiction can continue to perform in these testing times."

Appendix A

Annual growth in Collective Investment Funds to date. £ Millions

Annual growth in Banks and Bank Deposits to date. £ Millions

Appendix C

Appendix D

For further information:

Richard Pratt
Director General
Jersey Financial Services Commission

Telephone: +44(0) 1534 822011
Facsimile: +44(0) 1534 822001
Email: r.pratt@jerseyfsc.org

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