Jersey Finance has built on its presence in South East Asia, hosting a series of events last month to further build Jersey’s profile and to demonstrate the industry’s capabilities in the growing virtual assets market.
Presentations were staged in both Singapore and in Malaysia to discuss the increasing importance of virtual assets across both real estate investments and the alternative funds sector more widely and Jersey’s role as a leading International Finance Centre (IFC).
Elliot Refson, Head of Funds at Jersey Finance and Yiow Chong Tan, Business Development Director – South East Asia at Jersey Finance, led the presentations which included roundtable and panel discussions to delve further into trends and developments, whilst advocating the value of Jersey’s offering to the Asian market.
The series began with an event entitled ‘Spotlight on Funds: Recent Trends in Virtual Assets’, hosted in partnership with KPMG in Singapore. Presentations from Elliot, who provided an overview of Jersey’s funds sector and Neil Synott, Chief Commercial Officer APAC at IQ-EQ, who highlighted the role played by Jersey service providers using Jersey Private Funds, were followed by a roundtable discussion with six Asia-based specialists who focussed on the key considerations in navigating tax, legal and administrative aspects of virtual asset investments. Karen New, CEO of ACEGO Ptc Ltd., acted as a moderator.
In Malaysia, the Jersey Finance team partnered with Azimuth Global Partners and Trowers & Hamlins and the event was designed for investors keen on UK real estate investments, with the emphasis on the effectiveness of using Jersey structures when investing. Elliot’s presentation included an overview of Jersey’s development as an international finance centre (IFC) for alternative funds business and the collaborative approach of its government, regulator and industry to be in a position to capture growing virtual assets business. “Our flexible and pragmatic approach has attracted leading players in the industry,” he told invited guests.
A third event, also staged in Singapore, showcased the growing demand for the tokenisation of real assets, while at the same time, highlighting Jersey’s expertise in this field. Hosted by Jersey Finance in partnership with Schroders Wealth Management, presentations were followed by a roundtable in which a range of Singapore-based professionals discussed the latest trends in the tokenisation of assets.
Commenting on the latest event series in Asia, Elliot Refson, added: ”This latest series of events was an opportunity to drive home Jersey’s potential as a jurisdiction of choice for corporate clients, managers and international investors in the region. We highlighted key factors that set Jersey apart, especially the collaborative approach taken between service providers, our government and regulator, which is almost unique and has for many years led to highly successful innovation. Jersey is bringing this same approach to the digital space to help us capture the growing market for virtual assets. Tokenisation, for instance, is set to be transformative across the funds industry and Jersey is rather near the cutting edge of developments.”
Meanwhile, research from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) quantifying the full extent of Jersey’s global economic footprint has found that capital intermediated through Jersey equates to £46 billion of GDP in Asia each year, supporting in excess of 2.4 million jobs in the region. Only last year Jersey Finance enhanced its presence in Singapore to further develop its profile in the region.
Elliot further added: ”These events were also an opportunity to support our refreshed South East Asia strategy and were designed to strengthen relationships across the region where there is significant competition and to show we are ideally positioned as a stable, robustly regulated, yet innovative IFC to support both inbound and outbound capital.”
Pictured: Left to right – Elliot Refson and Yiow Chong Tan
