Midshore Consulting Limited (“Midshore”), an award-winning Guernsey-based regulatory consultancy, is pleased to announce the authorisation of Jacobi Bitcoin ETF, a sub-fund of Jacobi Investment Funds PCC Limited, which is Guernsey’s first approved cryptocurrency fund.
Jacobi Bitcoin ETF was authorised by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (“GFSC”) on 15 October 2021 and is available to institutional investors. The Fund will seek approval from the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK to list on the UK-based arm of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (“Cboe”) at which point it will become the world’s first Tier 1 Exchange Traded Fund (“ETF”).
Midshore has worked with Jacobi Asset Management (“Jacobi”) since early 2021 to design and develop the Fund and its operating model, ensuring that strict Guernsey regulatory requirements have been met. The final product brings together both Guernsey and International service providers ensuring that local requirements are met whilst allowing the flexibility of working with global firms experienced in this type of esoteric asset.
Christopher Jehan, Managing Director of Midshore said: “Having worked alongside Jacobi since the start of the year we are really happy with having reached this stage of regulatory approval. This project required early and frequent engagement with the GFSC and development of a key controls framework to ensure that regulatory requirements were considered at an early stage and kept in mind throughout the project. It is also a great achievement to be able to show that Guernsey is open for financial services products involving crypto assets.”
Jamie Khurshid, CEO of Jacobi said: “We are excited to be launching a new secure, transparent and accessible product to track the performance of Bitcoin. We are de-risking investments in crypto by removing the technology risk associated with the physical asset and the counterparty risk associated with traditional funds or tracker products that are unregulated leveraged debt instruments. We are proud to collaborate with Europe’s leading regulated firms for a truly tier 1 offering to service market demand, subject to the necessary regulated approval. This is an exciting moment for Europe as regulatory approval comes ahead of those waiting for a decision from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.”
Christopher Jehan, Midshore Consulting Limited (+44 (0)1481 730733)
christopher@midshoreconsulting.com
Geneva Loader, Jacobi Asset Management (+44 (0)7444 734487)
