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Can you sit on a board there?
Pick a market. You get the residency test, the nationality test, the work-authorisation position, the appointment steps in order, and the frictions that actually delay appointments — each cited to the instrument that creates it.
Choose a market
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Approval or registration requiredJE
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.
- Tenure limit once appointed
- No statutory cap. Jersey vehicles listed in London and following the AIC Code apply that Code's expectations on tenure and board refreshment.
- Time commitment
- Fund and holding-vehicle boards typically meet quarterly; London-listed vehicles carry a heavier calendar and full annual-report obligations.
- 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.
- Tax on your fees
- 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 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
The instruments behind these answers
- 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)
Reviewed against primary sources in September 2026. This is governance decision-support, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and transitional provisions frequently apply — verify against the primary instrument before you rely on it.
Eligibility is only the first question
Being allowed to sit on a board there is not the same as being read for one.
The mobility index answers the second question: whether your record is legible to a board in that market, whether you hold what it is currently short of, and whether you can do the job in the language its board works in.