The Gibraltar Stock Exchange (GSX), have this week announced the listing of the first fund, Lyford Global Fund Limited, on the exchange. ISOLAS acted for GSX on the establishment of the exchange, and worked with Grant Thornton, the Listing Member sponsoring the first listing application.
Gibraltar Finance, in a press release issued to mark the occasion, explained that “Lyford Global Fund Limited is a self-managed open-ended experienced investor fund, domiciled in Gibraltar investing in global equities and is authorised by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission.”
Adrian Hogg, Director of Grant Thornton Fund Administration Limited, stated: “We are delighted to be the first Member Firm to list a fund on GSX. The listing process has proved the speed to market principles that GSX have been promising, and a quick and seamless listing process. Having been through this process with Lyford, a local Experienced Investor Fund we are also confident of being able to offer our services to the wider international fund community seeking a European listing option for their funds in Gibraltar. ”
Joey Garcia, of ISOLAS commented that ‘for ISOLAS, this is a very important moment for the Funds team at the firm. We’re very proud to have acted on the establishment of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange, and now to have acted as the legal advisors of Lyford as the first fund to list on GSX, working with the team at Grant Thornton in the listing process. The turnaround times from GSX have been impressive, and the integration between GSX and the Listing Authority has also been excellent and certainly in line with the service level standards we had hoped for which is another positive message. One of the things that differentiates GSX from other ‘distribution platforms’ is that with GSX it is the Fund that is taken through a due diligence, compliance and approval process before it is admitted to the exchange, while being free to view for investors who simply register. Other classic fund distribution platforms do not typically charge the fund itself for publishing its information, nor is the fund required to comply with any additional legal or regulatory requirements to be admitted onto the platform but investors are required to pay to gain access to the information. GSX, as a regulated exchange really turns the table on this.
Gibraltar Finance, in their press release, also noted that Albert Isola, Minister for Financial Services and Gaming said: “This is great news for GSX and of course, Gibraltar. We have welcomed the launch of the Exchange and are delighted by its progress, as indeed by the interest it is creating both locally and internationally which was clear on our recent trip to Hong Kong. This bodes well for the future of GSX.”
Michael Bertges, the principal of the Lyford Fund has also commented that “we are delighted to have been the first fund to list on the exchange and hope that this will assist us in profiling ourselves, and the work that we are doing. The support from Grant Thornton and ISOLAS has been great, and we have been happy to be able to successfully take this step of upgrading our fund to make it a listed vehicle.”
Listing with GSX brings a listing on an EU exchange for open-ended funds; a listing fee of just £1,750 for EU funds and £2,000 for non-EU ones; fast to market – achieved through delegation of responsibilities of the authority back to GSX and its member firms; multiple levels of oversight; a user-friendly and searchable website unique in the industry; and a portal for enquiry by investors.
