Jersey Financial Services Commission Quarterly Report

Headlines:

• Bank deposits rose during the quarter by 0.5% to £156.4 billion.
• Collective Investment Funds values rose by 2.6% to £98.3 billion.
• 4 new Category A insurance licences were issued during the quarter.

Bank Deposits

Jersey bank deposits have remained at a similar level to those seen during the last quarter at £156.4 billion. There has in fact been an increase of £802 million (0.5%) in the total funds held on deposit over the last quarter and an 18% increase over the same quarter last year.

Approximately 50% of bank deposits are held in US dollars and the weakness of the dollar against sterling over the quarter has had an effect on the reported values.

The number of banking licences in issue remains at 55.

Company Incorporations

The total number of incorporations during this quarter was 442, which shows a decrease of 47% over the same period last year. This trend has continued from the last quarter. We believe this is due primarily to the current dip in the global economy and the changes in UK legislation.
The number of 'fast track' incorporations for this quarter was 187 and the number of normal company incorporations for this quarter was 255.

Against their self-imposed target of 95%, Registry recorded a 99.6% rate for normal two-day incorporations and a 75% rate for fast track companies for the quarter.

Investment Business

The total funds under investment management (class B of the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998) stood at £24.1 billion. When compared to the same quarter last year, this shows a decrease of 18.2%. Against the last quarter this represents a 13.8% decrease, continuing the recent trend and once again indicating the lack of investor confidence in the global markets.
As at 30 June 2003 the total number of clients of investment managers was 20,394.

Conclusion

Richard Pratt, Director General of the Commission, commenting on the quarterly statistics said today, "Despite the continuing fall in the number of Company Incorporations we have seen during the recent past, the Commission remains positive about the figures seen in this report. Bank Deposits have remained at a high level and the value of the Islands funds has increased for the first time in six months. The performance of the Island's finance industry during the past quarter has shown that the Island continues to attract business during this time of difficult trading conditions, and that can only bode well for the Island as a whole."

To read the press release in full, please visit the press section of www.jerseyfsc.org