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Disgraced Guernsey-linked fund manager Neil Woodford has registered his new firm in the Cayman Islands after a warning from Jersey’s financial watchdog that the island would not be used as a “back door”.
Mr Woodford - whose £3bn fund’s collapse left 300,000 people facing significant losses, sparking a Financial Conduct Authority investigation – revealed in February that he planned to use Jersey as a base for a biotech-focused comeback.
Just weeks earlier, he had reserved the company name ‘WCM Partners (Jersey) Limited’ with the JFSC.
News of Mr Woodford’s planned Jersey venture dismayed former investors, industry campaigners and Jersey’s Finance Minister, while the JFSC said that it was “disappointed” to see the announcement before having received or approved any paperwork.
When asked for comment, the Guernsey Financial Services Commission said it "endorsed the views expressed by the Jersey Financial Services Commission and the Financial Conduct Authority.”
JFSC Director General Martin Moloney then ramped up the regulatory rhetoric, launching what the Financial Times described as a “blistering attack” on Mr Woodford’s plans.
Pictured: Mr Woodford announced his comeback in February in an exclusive interview in the Sunday Telegraph.
In the wake of that backlash, it’s now emerged that ‘WCM Healthcare Partners’ has been registered in the Cayman Islands, according to Citywire.
The Cayman Islands do not impose either corporate or income tax.
Speaking to the FT in March, Mr Moloney said publicity around the Mr Woodford’s comeback announcement had “created the very false impression that Jersey could be used as a back door to gain access to the UK market”.
“Anyone who gets off the plane thinking that Jersey is a soft touch has wasted the price of the ticket. Jersey is not the place to come if you are trying to get around UK regulation, or any other regulation for that matter,” he stressed.
Mr Moloney also emphasised that the island has a “very close working relationship” with the FCA in the UK. The FCA’s Director of Enforcement previously confirmed that it would “share information” with the JFSC on any application for a new firm made in either jurisdiction.
Pictured: The JFSC confirmed that Mr Woodford had not received regulatory approval for his new venture, days after he announced it to the press.
“We would not want Jersey to be used by anyone to avoid the kind of protections, which rightly apply to investors in the UK,” Mr Moloney said.
“We aim for equivalent or similar outcomes in terms of the level of protection that our regulatory regime provides, and we actively consider the impact that businesses here can have on investors in other jurisdictions.”
For his new venture, Mr Woodford has teamed up with Acacia Research, and is seeking investment in biotech stocks including Oxford Nanopore, which makes DNA sequencing devices the size of a stapler that are now being used in dozens of countries across the world to track the spread of covid-19.
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