ID Exchange of Jersey
Acting as a director by way of business is a regulated activity here — so a professional director must be licensed or work for a licensed provider, which is the opposite of how most markets treat the role.
Jersey combines a company law with no residency requirement and a financial-services law that regulates the act of being a professional director. Providing director services by way of business is trust company business under the Financial Services (Jersey) Law, so a person building a portfolio of Jersey directorships must be regulated or employed by a regulated provider. Around that sits a large population of funds, listed vehicles and holding structures, many of them listed on The International Stock Exchange or in London.
- Trust company business
- The regulatory class that covers acting as a director by way of business
- No
- Residency or nationality requirement in company law
- JFSC
- Approves principal and key persons of regulated businesses
Can a foreign director sit on a board here?
No residency or nationality requirement in company law — but if you intend to act as a director by way of business, you need to be regulated or to act through a regulated provider.
- Residency test
- None.
- Nationality test
- None.
- Work authorisation
- A non-resident director attending board meetings requires no permit. Living and working in Jersey is subject to residential and employment status controls, which are restrictive.
- Board language
- Board process is in English.
- Time commitment
- Fund and holding-vehicle boards typically meet quarterly; London-listed vehicles carry a heavier calendar and full annual-report obligations.
What you have to do
The appointment steps, in order.
- 1Establish whether the appointment is by way of business — a single non-executive seat is different from building a portfolio
- 2Where it is, obtain registration as trust company business or arrange to act through a registered provider
- 3Consent to act and appointment under the company's articles, with filing at the Companies Registry
- 4For a regulated business, JFSC assessment of fitness and propriety as a principal or key person
What actually gets in the way
- The by-way-of-business test is the thing most candidates get wrong — one seat is not the same as a practice, and the line matters legally
- Economic substance requirements affect where board meetings must genuinely take place for in-scope entities
- Jersey residential and employment controls make relocating there materially harder than taking a directorship there
- For London-listed vehicles, both Jersey requirements and the UK listing regime apply at once
Board composition
What Jersey requires of a board.
Each requirement is stated as arithmetic against the instrument that creates it, with who it binds. Nothing here is characterised as compliance or non-compliance — that is a legal conclusion about a specific company, and it is not ours to draw.
| Requirement | Threshold | Basis | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Director services by way of business | Registered as trust company business, or acting through a registered provider | Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 | Professional directors |
| Board of a regulated business | Principal persons and key persons assessed for fitness and propriety by the JFSC | JFSC Codes of Practice | JFSC-registered businesses |
| Board size | No statutory minimum for most private companies; fund and listed vehicles follow investor and listing requirements | Companies (Jersey) Law 1991 and listing rules | Jersey companies |
| Listed vehicle governance | UK Corporate Governance Code or the AIC Code where the vehicle is London-listed | Listing rules of the relevant venue | Jersey companies listed in London |
Independence and tenure
How long you may serve, and what ends it.
- Tenure cap
- No statutory cap. Jersey vehicles listed in London and following the AIC Code apply that Code's expectations on tenure and board refreshment.
- Cooling-off
- Independence is assessed against the promoter, the investment manager and the administrator; employment by a service provider is inconsistent with independence of the vehicle.
Other tests
- Employment by or economic dependence on the promoter or a service provider
- Capacity across the whole portfolio, which the JFSC and institutional investors both examine
- Conflicts arising from directorships of connected vehicles
- For London-listed vehicles, the independence tests of the applicable governance code
What a seat pays
£25,000 – £60,000 a year for a non-executive director of a London-listed Jersey vehicle; unlisted fund and holding-company seats sit materially below that.
- Where this comes from
- Listed vehicles disclose directors' remuneration in the annual report; unlisted fund vehicles disclose in the financial statements.
- Committee uplift
- Chairing a listed vehicle, or the audit committee of one, carries a substantial premium.
- Tax
- Jersey levies income tax at a low rate and the position for a non-resident director depends on where duties are performed; the director's own residence jurisdiction is usually the operative one.
The instruments this page relies on
Companies (Jersey) Law 1991
Governs Jersey companies. It imposes no residency or nationality requirement on directors, and permits a single director for most private companies.
States of Jersey
Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998
Makes the provision of company director services by way of business a class of trust company business requiring registration. A person acting as a professional director must therefore be regulated or act through a registered provider.
Jersey Financial Services Commission
JFSC Codes of Practice for Trust Company Business
Set conduct, competence, record-keeping and conflicts requirements for regulated providers and the individuals acting through them, including the fitness and propriety of principal and key persons.
Jersey Financial Services Commission
Jersey fund regimes
Establish the Jersey Private Fund, expert fund and listed fund regimes, each with its own governance and service-provider requirements that the board is responsible for meeting.
Jersey Financial Services Commission
Diversity requirements
Stated as the rule states it — quota, target or disclosure obligation.
- There is no Jersey board diversity requirement. Jersey vehicles listed in London are subject to the UK listing regime's diversity disclosure requirements.
How this regime map is maintained
Every requirement on this page is cited to the instrument that creates it, and the review date states when a person last checked it against the primary source. Nothing here is legal advice: rules change, and transitional provisions frequently apply. Verify against the primary instrument before you rely on it.
This regime map was last reviewed against primary sources in September 2026.
The demand thesis
Why seats open in Jersey — and how an outsider reaches one.
This section is our reading of the market, not a statement of law. It is separated from the rules above for exactly that reason.
Why seats open
- A large and continuously replenished population of funds, listed vehicles and holding structures, each needing a board.
- Economic substance requirements have raised what a Jersey directorship actually requires in terms of presence and decision-making.
- London-listed Jersey vehicles must satisfy UK governance expectations, which narrows the qualifying pool to directors who know both regimes.
- Private-capital structures continue to migrate to Jersey from other jurisdictions, bringing new boards with them.
How you get in
- London-listed Jersey investment companies and trusts, where UK non-executive experience is directly relevant
- Joining or contracting through an established regulated trust company business
- Private fund and holding-vehicle boards for institutional sponsors
- Insurance and captive vehicles
What this market is short of
- Banking, insurance or asset management at board or C-suite level
- Chaired an audit committee
- Professional accounting qualification
Most receptive sectors
Live mandates
No mandates open in Jersey right now.
Register your interest and you are matched against this market's briefs as they open — statutory, interim and advisory alike.
Mobility corridors
Where board experience travels, into and out of Jersey.
A corridor is a directional pair of markets between which experience is genuinely legible — and every one of them carries a friction, because a corridor with nothing to bridge would be a corridor nobody had thought about.
Into Jersey — where its boards recruit from
A very large share of Jersey vehicles are London-listed and apply the UK Corporate Governance Code or the AIC Code, so a UK non-executive record is directly and immediately usable.
Friction — Acting as a director by way of business in Jersey is a regulated activity, so building a portfolio — as opposed to taking one seat — requires registration or a regulated provider.
Questions
Jersey, answered directly.
Is being a director a regulated activity in Jersey?
Providing company director services by way of business is. It is a class of trust company business under the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998, so a person building a portfolio of Jersey directorships must be registered or act through a registered provider. A single non-executive seat is a different question, and the line is worth taking advice on.
Do I need to live in Jersey?
Not to be a director — company law imposes no residency requirement. Actually relocating to Jersey is a separate and much harder question, because residential and employment status are tightly controlled.
ID Exchange of Jersey
Is Jersey actually one of your markets?
The mobility index scores it against your own record across four named components — corridor strength, legal openness, what this market is short of, and the language its boards work in — and tells you plainly when the answer is no.