PRESS RELEASE 28 June 2006

Jersey Financial Services Commission signs MoU with Qatar FCRA

The Jersey Financial Services Commission (“JFSC”) recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) with the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (“QFCRA”).

The MoU was signed by Mr David Carse, Director General of the JFSC and Mr Phillip Thorpe, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the QFCRA.

The JFSC is responsible for the regulation and supervision of banking, collective investment funds, insurance business, investment business and trust company business conducted in or from Jersey. The QFCRA has similar responsibilities for financial services firms that conduct regulated activities in or from the new Qatar Financial Centre.

The signing of the MoU has formalised arrangements for ongoing co-operation and information sharing between the two regulators. It recognises that both regulators place reliance on the quality of regulatory standards administered in the other’s jurisdiction.

Mr. Carse said: “I am delighted to sign this Memorandum of Understanding with the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority. It is the latest in a number of MoUs established between the Commission and other regulators around the world and reflects the Commission’s commitment to cross-border regulatory co-operation. Qatar is undergoing significant economic expansion and attracting increasing attention from Jersey’s finance sector. Greater dialogue between the two regulators may therefore be necessary and the MoU will help facilitate this.”

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For further information, please contact:

Mark Sumner
Director, Banking

DDI: (01534) 822117
Email: m.sumner@jerseyfsc.org

Editor’s notes:

The Jersey Financial Services Commission is responsible for regulation and supervision of banking, collective investment funds, insurance business, investment business and trust company business in Jersey.

Mr David Carse has been the Director General of the Commission since 3 November 2003. He was previously Deputy Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority where he was responsible for the full range of regulatory, supervisory and policy issues relating to the banking industry in Hong Kong. Prior to his appointment in Hong Kong he spent 20 years with the Bank of England.

The MoU signed with the QFCRA follows a separate MoU signed with the Qatar Central Bank on 16 March 2006.