Offshore law firm Mourant Ozannes has advised Investec Asset Management Guernsey Limited on the migration and redomiciliation from Ireland to Guernsey of Investec International Funds, a $1.2 billion fund of funds unit trust.
The redomiciliation took effect in July and involved all legal and regulatory aspects, including investors', Irish Central Bank and Guernsey Financial Services Commission approvals and changes to the fund documentation, to remove the fund from Ireland and authorise it as a Guernsey Class B open-ended unit trust.
The move capitalises on Guernsey's flexible regime when it comes to the domiciliation of funds due to its location outside of the EU. Not only does Guernsey offer a dual regulatory regime in respect of Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), it can also service funds that are out of scope of that European legislation.
The matter was led by Guernsey corporate partner Gavin Farrell, assisted by associate Dylan Latimer.
Mr Farrell said: "We are delighted to have assisted in the inward migration of an established structure to take advantage of all the benefits Guernsey has to offer as a well-recognised jurisdiction for such structures outside the EU."
Grant Cameron, Managing Director of Investec Asset Management Guernsey Limited, said: "We are very pleased with the ease with which this re-domiciliation process was managed given the complexities involved; some of the work performed on the re-domiciliation was ground breaking."
Mourant Ozannes has a long-standing relationship with Investec Asset Management and earlier this year advised the firm on the launch of the Investec Africa Private Equity II Fund, which will seek influential minority or control equity investments in established mid-market African companies across industries and regions including relatively under-invested African countries.