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Hawksford granted
Cayman Trust Licence
HAWKSFORD HAS BEEN granted a Trust Licence by the Cayman
Islands Monetary Authority, enabling the firm to provide a full range of
trust services to private and corporate clients in the islands. With this
expansion into Cayman, Hawksford can now offer fiduciary services to
clients from Europe, Asia and the Caribbean.
Hawksford Director Steve Robinson, who will oversee the Cayman
operation, said: “We are delighted that Hawksford now has operating
capabilities in the Cayman Islands. This is a significant development for
the company and our clients.”
Hawksford is an international corporate, private client and funds
business offering a range of comprehensive services to trusts, companies,
foundations, partnerships, family offices and investment funds. n
PwC opens KYC Centre of
Excellence in Alderney
PWC HAS OPENED its Know Your Client (KYC) Centre of
Excellence (CoE) in Alderney. The new hub will service
financial institutions (FIs) operating within the Bailiwick of
Guernsey. The company chose to pilot its concept on the
island because of the availability of labour, and because
of full support from local politicians.
Globalisation, increased trade and money flows, the emergence
of new technologies and the financial crisis of 2008 have collectively
compounded the threat posed by global organised financial crime, which
continues to increase year by year. For FIs, the costly business of keeping
pace with the required compliance, monitoring and control of financial
transactions has similarly continued to increase.
The technologically enabled CoE will perform KYC services as required by
the local regulator, the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC).
These services will include identification and verification of clients, as well as
screening based on public/commercial sources.
Located at Maison Des Venelles, Venelles Des Gaudion, the CoE will initially
have seven staff. n
Invest Europe
launches
Professional
Standards
Handbook
INVEST EUROPE, FORMERLY
the European Private Equity and
Venture Capital Association (EVCA),
has published its 2015 Professional
Standards Handbook, a comprehensive
set of up-to-date standards and
guidelines for the private equity sector.
The Handbook reflects the
heightened standards of transparency
and accountability being pursued by
investors in Europe’s growing private
equity industry, which represents
€545bn of assets under management.
It takes into account regulations in
Europe, including the Alternative
Investment Fund Managers Directive,
that have come into force since the
last update of the Handbook in 2013.
As part of the revision, Invest
Europe has published substantially
updated guidelines for reporting by
private equity firms to their investors,
which emphasise the importance of
clear and detailed disclosure of fees.
As well as increasing transparency,
the guidelines encourage extra
reporting to address areas of nonfinancial
disclosure and enhanced
clarity on reporting metrics.
The updated Handbook was created
by Invest Europe members – including
private equity firms and their
institutional investors – as well as
industry advisers, working in
collaboration for over a year. Its
guidance demonstrates consensus
across the industry about best practice
in today’s market.
All Invest Europe members are
required to adhere to the Handbook’s
Code of Conduct, which remains
unaltered from prior editions.
The Invest Europe Professional
Standards Handbook 2015 can be
downloaded from the Invest Europe
website, www.investeurope.eu n
8 January/february 2016 www.blglobal.co.uk