JERSEY trust businesses will no longer be able to be registered as ‘transitional’ under the Island’s registration procedures.

The transitional category was created in 2001 when new laws were brought in to regulate the trust sector. Firms regarded as transitional were those which had not yet fulfilled the full requirements of the law but were working towards that status. The Jersey Financial Services Commission says that the transitional provisions are ‘no longer relevant’.

Since the provisions of the Financial Services Law were put in place, 24 of the original 229 trust companies that applied for registration have either merged with another company, closed down or withdrawn their applications. Four firms have been refused licences and six firms that were granted registration, but failed to maintain the required standards, have ‘voluntarily sought to wind down their affairs’.

In a recent letter to the chief executives of trust company businesses, the commission’s director general, John Harris, says that not all those who closed had ‘regulatory issues’ – a number decided to close or merge because of retirement and ‘normal’ acquisition activity.