Jersey Financial Services Commission Quarterly Report

The Jersey Financial Services Commission has today, 19th December 2003, issued its quarterly report for the period 1 July 2003 to 30 September 2003.

Headlines:

• Bank deposits fell during the quarter by 0.4% to £155.7 billion.
• The total value of funds under investment management has increased by 3.2% during the last 12 months.
• The value of Collective Investment Funds held in the island is at an all time high at £108.2 billion.

Bank Deposits

Jersey bank deposits have remained at a similar level to those seen during the last quarter at £155.7 billion. There has in fact been a small decrease of £627 million (0.4%) in the total reported funds held on deposit over the last quarter. However there has been a 14% increase over the same quarter last year.

Approximately 85% of bank deposits are held in currencies other than sterling and the continued weakness of many of these currencies against sterling over the quarter will have had an effect on the reported values in sterling. Therefore, the underlying value of deposit balances in denominated currencies has continued to trend upwards.

The number of banking licences in issue remains at 55.

Company Incorporations

The total number of incorporations during this quarter was 535, which shows a decrease of 14% over the same period last year. This trend has continued from the last quarter.

The number of 'fast track' incorporations for this quarter was 241 and the number of normal company incorporations for this quarter was 294.

Against their self-imposed target of 95%, Registry recorded a 99.9%rate for normal two-day incorporations and a 97.5% 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 £30.2 billion. When compared to the same quarter last year, this shows an increase of 3.2%.

As at 30 September 2003 the total number of clients of investment managers was 20,717 compared to a figure of 20,394 at the end of the last quarter. Both the increase in the value of funds under management and the increase in the number of clients again suggest investor confidence is beginning to return in respect of the equity markets.

Conclusion

David Carse, Director General of the Commission, commenting on the quarterly statistics said today, "The Commission is encouraged by the figures seen in this report, particularly by the fact that the value of funds in the Island is at an all time high. Bank deposits have remained stable despite the relatively low interest rates currently available and the value of assets under investment management has grown. The Island's finance industry thus continues to perform well, which is positive for the Island as a whole."

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