Global financial technology giant, FNZ, has returned to its roots after relocating the key holding company from Jersey to Wellington.
In an under-the-radar move last August, the firm shifted the corporate registration of FNZ Group (and FNZ Group Entities) to NZ waters following a brief existence under the jurisdiction of the largest of the UK Channel Islands.
FNZ only registered the two companies with Jersey authorities in January last year.
It is understood the FNZ board met for the first time in Wellington last December with directors jetting in from various locales including Switzerland, Germany, UK, Singapore and the US.
Charlie Trotter, former head of FNZ NZ, is the sole local director of the 13-strong FNZ Group board.
The company, headed by Adrian Durham, was founded in Wellington 20 years ago under the auspices of broking firm, First NZ Capital (now Jarden) before spinning off into a stand-alone global success story.
Following a series of ownership changes over the years, FNZ now has a largely institutional shareholder register anchored by two Canadian pension funds and the Al Gore-founded Generation Investment Management. Last year FNZ raised a further US$1.4 billion in a fund-raising round that brought on a new investor (Motive Partners) and valued the business at US$20 billion.
The company has been highly acquisitive of late, adding the Luxembourg-based platform, International Fund Services & Asset Management, to the growing list of purchases last week.
FNZ now employs roughly 6,000 people in about 30 countries including circa 500 in NZ, mostly based in Wellington and the recently opened Auckland office.
Despite the rapid growth, the company reportedly cut about 400 jobs worldwide late last year including a dozen or so in NZ.
Following the changes it is understood FNZ is recruiting for senior NZ business leadership roles.
While the global FNZ Group entity is now domiciled in NZ post the Jersey move, the ultimate holding company – Falcon Newco – remains registered in the Cayman Islands. Falcon Newco owns more than 95 per cent of FNZ Group with a handful of other offshore-based individuals and entities filling out the share register.
Jersey has long been a popular destination for global firms with many attracted by a generous tax regime.
But the zero corporate tax arrangements available on the island may soon expire, the Jersey Evening Post reported last April.
“… as soon as 2024 the government could also introduce a global-minimum tax rate of 15% for companies headquartered in the Island with a turnover of more than 750 million euros per year,” the report says. “It is believed around 1,000 firms could be affected.”