By A Paris – This year will be forever remembered as the one which saw a global pandemic taking over the world, widespread travel restrictions and significant market volatility. But in Singapore, 2020 can be considered in a more favourable light. Despite the less than auspicious environment, the jurisdiction reaped success in launching a new fund structure, generating manager interest in an otherwise turbulent period.

By Mark Voumard, Gordian Capital – Readers will be familiar with onshore domiciles such as Dublin or Luxembourg. How does Singapore differ? 

“The introduction of the Variable Capital Company (VCC) structure earlier this year has been the latest in a number of initiatives undertaken by the Singapore government to grow the city state’s fund management industry and achieve its ambition of being the gateway to asset management opportunities in Asia”, says Allard de Jong, Head of the Fund Administration, Corporate Trust and Custody team of the Portcullis Group.

The FCA has published final rules banning the sale of derivatives and exchange traded notes (ETNs) that reference certain types of cryptoassets to retail consumers.

With the profound impacts of Covid-19 continuing to reverberate around the world, it is notable how robust the funds industry has been during the last six months. In Ireland, like elsewhere, significant redemptions were registered in March as investors sought to reduce risk and increase liquidity.

The Irish funds industry may have some catching up to do in the private funds space, but as the government gears up to introduce a refreshed Investment Limited Partnerships Act, the jurisdiction is expected to see an influx of managers from the UK, the US and further afield choosing to set up their private funds in Ireland.

Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of financial advice business owners and wealth management chief executives do not trust the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) to deliver fair outcomes for consumers or their firms, a survey of PIMFA members has revealed.

PIMFA, the trade association for the wealth management and financial advice industry, has welcomed the latest analysis of the regulatory perimeter from the FCA but says the regulator must act sooner to avoid consumer harm.

The extra tax HMRC has collected from investigations into underpaid Inheritance Tax reached GBP274 million last year, a four-year high, says Wilsons, a private client law firm.

The True and Fair Campaign, led by Gina Miller and Alan Miller, has issued a 10-point Action Plan to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ahead of the new Chief Executive, Nikhil Rathi, taking up his post this Autumn.