The changes proposed in the consultation paper are intended to bring fees “into line with the modern registry environment” and to facilitate public access to information, while also factoring the increasing cost of cyber-security, registry development, and an increasing number of registry initiatives.

The Jersey Financial Services Commission has issued a consultation paper setting out proposed fee increases for its registry-related services, including fees for annual returns and company formation.

It is proposed that the fee for annual returns for companies, partnerships, and foundations will increase from JEP150 (USD220) to JEP200 (USD290) for returns submitted online and to JEP210 (USD305) for paper returns. This is the first fee increase for annual returns since 2003.

A new five-tier system for company incorporations will be introduced with the cost for a turnaround time of five days being set at JEP150 (USD220), which is JEP50 (USD70) less than the current standard two-day incorporation cost of JEP200 (USD290).

The consultation paper also proposes that business names should be required to be renewed every three years.

Some search fees will gradually be reduced so that certain basic information will be available free of charge. For example, certain company, partnership, and foundation record searching and monitoring will now be free.

The changes proposed in the consultation paper are intended to bring fees “into line with the modern registry environment” and to facilitate public access to information, while also factoring the increasing cost of cyber-security, registry development, and an increasing number of registry initiatives.