Our IFC in 2026

Amy Bryant: Welcome to Jersey Heard, the Jersey Finance Podcast. I’m Amy Bryant, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Jersey Finance, and in this episode, I’ll be chatting with Joe Moynihan, Jersey Finance’s CEO, to share insights with you, our international listeners, about the events and activities we undertook in 2025 across key markets around the globe, namely the UK, the Gulf Region, Africa, Asia and the USA.

We’ll also share how you can get involved with our events, resources, and insights across 2026.

Before we get into it, Joe, I’d like to set the scene around what 2025 was like for Jersey’s International Finance Centre, and I’d very much characterise 2025 as a year defined by transformation, particularly in digital innovation, geopolitical tensions, challenges around the cost of living and climate crisis, and all of that combined to create a highly charged and unstable landscape for some economies.

Having said that, Jersey fared well in 2025 to set itself apart from other IFCs, and this is in part down to our experience as a leading international finance centre with more than 60 years of experience, as well as the excellent working relationships we have with our Government and financial services regulator.

For those who might be unfamiliar with Jersey’s economy, our finance industry makes up about a fifth of the island’s workforce, so more than 14,000 employees. And to put the value of the industry into perspective, it’s responsible for intermediating 1.4 trillion sterling of capital globally. So our reputation, our experience, and our expertise as an IFC are evident and these attributes held us in good standing last year.

So, turning to you now, Joe, in thinking about this highly-charged and unstable landscape, what do you see as the main trends and the narrative for finance centres in 2026 and beyond?

Joe Moynihan: I think it’s important to acknowledge, as you have already mentioned, that we are in a period of significant geopolitical turmoil with uncertainty now the norm at a high level.

I think that means there will continue to be demand for high-quality international finance centres operating in a stable environment, which can provide the certainty. That is needed. Indeed. I suspect that this requirement for stability and certainty will be even more important as the matters progress internationally.

As you know, I do some work with the World Alliance of International Finance Centres, and we’ve identified four global trends, which will impact the world of international finance centres in the future, and not in any particular order.

Those trends are sustainable finance, which is about developing sustainable strategies. It’s about digital transformation and innovation. Human capital deployment [development] and regulatory collaboration and harmonisation.

Amy Bryant: Brilliant. So pretty broad areas there, Joe, and you know, all chiming with what we hear when we’re discussing with our international community. So maybe you could just spend some time talking us through where you think Jersey’s IFC is in this journey towards addressing some of those trends.

Joe Moynihan: Sure. I mean, we have done a considerable amount of work with the industry in the sustainable finance area. Our Government has launched an action plan to help future-proof the financial services industry, open up new business opportunities, and enhance our connectivity internationally. In addition, our regulator is well-connected to trends from a regulatory perspective in this regard, globally.

If we look at digital transformation, we are looking at AI and tokenisation. Technology is really reshaping client expectations and speeding up the ecosystem we are operating in. In Jersey, we work hard to champion the potential of tokenisation, nurture an ecosystem for virtual assets and support firms with their fintech ambitions. Recently the Government and our regulator of the JFSC have launched an Innovation Council to help Jersey’s financial services industry remain at the forefront of emerging technologies and capitalising on the rapidly evolving digital assets market. I know that human capital development is a big issue for all centres, and this is really about the skills our industry needs to support clients, ensure probity and demonstrate competence at an evolving pace.

Through our careers and skills program, we’ll continue to foster early careers through schools. We support reskilling and upskilling across the workforce and creating pathways for leadership in order to build an inclusive and agile ecosystem of opportunity. We also have the capacity to bring skills onto the island where they’re required to supplement the existing workforce.

The final area in relation to regulatory collaboration and harmonisation. There is a need for positive relationships and cooperation, and this has become more critical in nurturing trust and driving progress.

In Jersey, our close relationship with our independent financial services regulator will see us build on the enhancements to various regulations introduced in 2025, most notably to the Jersey Private Fund regime.

These efforts in 2026 will involve a number of positive changes to our regime spanning the trust company and funds spaces.

Amy Bryant: Thanks, Joe. That was a really great overview of how Jersey is driving forward across those key areas that have been identified at a sort of global level, I guess, across the World Alliance of International Finance Centres.

Now I’m looking ahead and perhaps outside of Jersey more so to the markets that we work with and in. What are the areas that we’re going to be focusing on in 2026?

Joe Moynihan: I think at the outset, I’m not going to have time to do justice to the amount of fantastic work our teams globally are doing in the markets in which we operate.

Our market development directors are very active in those markets, engaging with key intermediaries and assisting member firms on the ground. They’re supported by, um, an excellent marketing team. Back here in Jersey. So this will be a very, very quick potted run-through.

But if we take for example, firstly the GCC, we championed our talent for mediating cross-border and investment structuring through a white paper using insights from a series of events that we held in the region.

We strengthen our business ties with Bahrain through a new double tax agreement signed by the Government and in 2026 we’re heading back to the region for our popular Perspectives programme, our annual Dubai conference, our support of STEP Arabia and collaboration with partners on the ground.

Our team in the region are constantly holding meetings, roundtables and other events promoting the Jersey proposition and if you’re interested in partnering with us on our initiatives, do get in touch with Faizal Bhana and An Kelles, both are based in Dubai.

Amy, did you want to just talk a little bit about Perspectives?

Amy Bryant: Yeah, absolutely, Joe. So our Perspectives series is a series focussed on women in leadership, and we run it in South Africa but also here in the context of talking about our activity in the GCC.

And it’s, do you know what Joe? It’s one of my favourite activities of the year that I’m involved with. Last year, 2025, we ran three events across the course of a week – one in Saudi Arabia, one in Qatar and one in Dubai – showcasing and championing fantastic women in financial services across the region. And we had our highest number of attendees at those events since the series began. And I’m really looking forward to building on that momentum for 2026 and seeing what this year can bring. As I say, it’s one of the things I really look forward to in the year.

Joe Moynihan: The next area just to look quickly at is the US in 2025. We continued our support for US fund managers as a gateway to Europe, particularly for those seeking institutional investors. This has been highly effective from a jurisdictional point of view, and we’ve seen a rise of 113% in US-originated funds business being booked now through Jersey.

We have expanded our strategy in the US in response to customer and Member demand to highlight Jersey’s established private wealth strengths, enhancing our visibility through events in cities, including Miami and holding a highly successful week-long programme in New York.

In 2026, we’re increasing our efforts and hosting more events, including a roadshow to promote the ‘why Jersey?’ message across the US and partnering with experts on the ground.

To keep abreast of developments, again, if you’re looking to find out more about Jersey’s relationship with the US, contact our US lead who is based in New York, Philip Pirecki.

From Asia, we are have gained momentum, particularly in the family office and digital asset space in Singapore and Hong Kong. Shari’a-compliant investment is another hot topic for us in Asia that we highlighted at the IFN Investor Forum, a leading event for the Islamic finance community in the region, and our director on the ground in Singapore, Yiow Chong Tan would be happy to connect with you if you’re based in Southeast Asia or indeed travelling there this year.

On the continent of Africa, [in 2025] we continued to foster supportive working connections for both funds and private wealth solutions, as well as reinforcing strategic partnerships through collaborations with the British High Commission in South Africa and the British Chamber of Commerce in Kenya.

In 2026, our East Africa lead, Faizal Bhana, will be back in Nairobi and Mombasa and our South Africa lead, Dr Rufaro Nyakatawa, will be hosting several events in Johannesburg and Cape Town. So do get in touch with them if you would like to be involved.

We have a long-standing and close relationship with the UK, particularly the city of London, and also with Europe. Jersey is very closely involved with the UK, a lot of business comes from the UK into Jersey, and indeed vice versa.

And we intend to continue that relationship hosting events on an ongoing basis, roundtables on specific subjects, and also our funds forum events.

Perhaps our, well, our biggest global event is our highly successful private wealth conference, and last year the title for the private wealth conference was ‘reputation as a strategy’. Very well-attended, fantastic speakers and fantastic feedback.

The team are currently planning the 2026 event, which will be at the same venue, The Brewery on September the 22nd, so that’s a date for your diary.

We will also continue our association with the excellent team at TheCityUK, ensuring consistency of messaging and making use of the resources that they make available to us.

Again, our lead contact in the UK is Rob Moore and if you’re interested in connecting with Rob, he’d be very happy to speak to you.

And it’s probably worth, uh, reminding people that if you’re interested in events in your region, if you go to the events page on our website, all of the detail is there.
Amy Bryant: Well, Joe, thank you so much for sharing all of that with us.

It sounds like we’re going to be incredibly busy and, lots and lots of activity that our listeners can get involved with in their regions and globally, so thank you for sharing all of those highlights.

What I’d say in conclusion, collaboration and innovation. Very much seem to be at the heart of our 2026 plans.

They are at the core of what it is that we do and how we feel as though we’ve managed to set ourselves apart as a finance centre over the years, and the attributes will continue to play a vital role across this year, in collaboration with our Government, our regulator, the on-island industry and partners across the globe.

And on the innovation front, whether it’s in the digital space, sustainable finance or indeed in the solutions that we offer as an international finance centre – all of that will be critical – both in differentiating us in a very competitive market, but also in helping us remain agile and adaptable in the face of constant change and being able to best support our international clients.

Unfortunately, we do see that uncertainty is a bit like the “new normal” for many global major economies, and we’ve seen this really since the 2008 financial crisis and I think that very much underscores the need for stable and trusted international finance centres to help channel capital responsibly and to support long-term and sustainable planning.

And I think that Jersey’s stable platform can offer that certainty for the global community. And I think, Joe, you’ve outlined that very well through your reflections of the past year and with that, focus on the look ahead.

That brings us to the end of the episode.

A few final reminders that you can always get in touch with Jersey Finance through our market development team in the regions you’re based in. So please do visit our website, jerseyfinance.com, for their contact details.

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So finally, thank you for tuning in and from all the team at Jersey Finance. We wish you a fantastic year ahead.