Guernsey’s financial services regulator, the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC), has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) regarding the distribution of investment funds to retail investors.

Guernsey’s financial services regulator, the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC), has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) regarding the distribution of investment funds to retail investors. 

The agreement allows for closer cooperation between the two authorities, including the exchange of information, cross border on-site visits and assistance in the enforcement of each jurisdiction’s laws. 

It comes amid changes to the Swiss Collective Investment Schemes Act relating to the distribution of foreign funds to retail investors in or from Switzerland. 

“The fact that the GFSC has signed this MoU with FINMA means that Guernsey funds can continue to be distributed to retail investors in Switzerland,” said Fiona Le Poidevin, chief executive of Guernsey Finance. “There are already a number of managers with funds, especially open-ended schemes, which are distributed into Switzerland and this MoU means that Guernsey remains an attractive domicile for those seeking to raise capital from the Swiss market.”

In November last year Guernsey's financial regulator signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission, to bolster cooperation between the two supervisory bodies.

Figures from the GFSC show that it approved 103 new funds during 2014 and the total net asset value of all funds under management and administration in the Channel Island reached £266 billion ($443 billion) at the end of December 2013.