FSA licence enables Mourant to operate collective investment schemes

07.05.2003

Mourant has been granted an extension to its FSA licence to cover the operation of unregulated collective investment schemes.

The licence enables the firm’s administration division - Mourant International Finance Administration - to provide a full administration service in the UK for private equity and venture capital funds and various real estate structures.

Former Goldman Sachs executive director Robert Short, who joined Mourant in late 2002 to spearhead the firm’s onshore fund capability, said: ’We are delighted that the FSA has granted our licence to operate unregulated collective investment schemes in the UK. We believe it is a great opportunity to offer such services to property, private equity and venture capital schemes. Regulated firms are required to demonstrate sufficient infrastructure and internal controls over accounting, treasury and compliance to satisfy the FSA’s increasingly focused approach to ensuring adequate investor protection.

’Providing fund administration services in the UK will complement existing fund administration services provided by our Guernsey, Jersey and Luxembourg offices.’

Mourant’s multi-jurisdictional capabilities expanded rapidly in 2002 with new subsidiaries in Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands and the acquisition of an existing fund administration business in Guernsey to join the firm’s existing administration businesses in London and Jersey.

The expansion of the firm, whose headquarters are in Jersey, continued in December last year with the opening of new offices in Luxembourg, from which the Mourant International Finance Administration team offers a range of bespoke administration services to corporate structures and institutional funds.

Mourant International Finance Administration has over US$20 billion under fund administration and has structured finance programmes under administration of over US$250 billion.