Win-win for Rees-Mogg: Firm co-founded by Tory MP sets up in Dublin, warns of hard Brexit risk
In an embarrassing revelation for the staunch Brexiteer, an investment firm co-founded by Jacob Rees-Mogg has opened a fund in Dublin – and is warning potential clients of the dangers of a hard Brexit.
Despite it reportedly being the type of EU-divorce favored by the Tory MP, Rees-Mogg’s London-based investment firm Somerset Capital Management (SCM) has described Brexit as a risk in paperwork for a new fund it launched in March. The fund has been marketed to international investors interested in keeping their finances in the EU long-term.
A prospectus issued by the fund said: “During, and possibly after, this period there is likely to be considerable uncertainty as to the position of the UK and the arrangements which will apply to its relationships with the EU. As [the firm is] based in the UK and a fund’s investments may be located in the UK or the EU, a fund may as a result be affected by the events described above.”
Rees-Mogg is the co-founder and non-executive chairman of Somerset Capital Management, as well as being a partner in the business. He said in a statement on Wednesday: "A number of existing and prospective clients requested domiciled access to Somerset's products. The decision to launch the fund was nothing whatsoever to do with Brexit."
The Tory, who works at the firm part-time on top of his duties as an MP, is paid about £14,000-a-month for working 30 hours a month as a non-executive chair. Rees-Mogg said that his firm had funds based all over the world, including in Australia, the US and the Cayman Islands, and that "people outside the EU are used to Irish-domiciled funds."
The Tory MP said the warnings of the risks of Brexit were "not a policy statement by SCM" but simply guidance to investors which had been drafted by their legal team.
Rees-Mogg does not make investment decisions in his role at SCM.
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