Foundations Law Amendment

The Foundations (Amendment of Law) (Jersey) Regulation 2015 was enacted in March (the “Amendment”) and amends Jersey’s primary foundations law which came into force in 2009 (the “Foundations Law”). 

The Amendment makes two important changes that help to clarify the original drafting for the private client industry in Jersey.

Firstly the Foundation Law has been amended so that it is clear that the purpose of a specific purpose foundation can either be contained in the Charter or in the Regulations.  Previously the Foundations Law was unclear as to what extent the purpose of a purpose foundation should be included in the Charter.   By expressly allowing the purpose of a purpose foundation to be contained in the Regulations, this ensure the confidentiality of the specific purpose of a foundation if the client so wishes.

Secondly there is now an obligation on all members of a foundation’s council to make sure that a foundation’s records are kept and prepared properly and are accurate. The records should contain entries of all income and expenditure in addition to recording all the assets and liabilities of the foundation.  As the obligation now rests on all council members equally, any member can request to inspect the accounting records of the foundation by giving two days’ notice of such request.  As many foundations will have a sole qualified member acting as the council member, we do not consider that this amendment will impact on many structures, however, where there are multiple members on a foundation’s council, then they should each ensure that they evidence they are complying with the new standard.