Gorst: 'Positive Moneyval report proves Jersey is in top tier'

Wednesday 25 May 2016

A positive assessment of Jersey’s “mature and sophisticated” financial services regulation has been welcomed by Chief Minister Ian Gorst – who has pledged that more resources will be put into money laundering prosecutions in the courts.

The 300-page report by Moneyval found that Jersey had made significant progress in tackling financial crime, and backed Jersey’s register of beneficial ownership as placing the Island “in a leading position in meeting standards of beneficial ownership transparency”.

The report found that Jersey was “compliant” or “largely compliant” in 48 out of 49 criteria – an improvement on the previous report that saw “compliant” or “largely compliant” ratings in 44 out of 49 criteria.

Jersey Financial Services Commission Director General John Harris said that the ratings put Jersey in the “top quartile” of international jurisdictions.

Politicians and regulators are particularly pleased about the finding of beneficial ownership – Jersey has been criticised for not making the register public as other jurisdictions plan to, but were praised in the report for the level of vetting and checking that goes beyond proposals in the UK and elsewhere.

Inspectors spoke to more than 110 people over a week-long inspection in January 2015, and although the general tone was very positive, it did raise a concern about too few money laundering prosecutions going through the courts.

Senator Gorst responded to the report by saying that more resources would be handed to prosecutors to enable them to bring more cases to court.

He said: “Jersey has had some considerable success in the past concerning complex and difficult money-laundering investigations and prosecutions.

“However, in line with the recommendations of this report, the Government of Jersey has committed to the injection of further resources into the work of tackling financial crime, which we undertake in close partnership with the Attorney General, the States of Jersey Police and the JFSC.

“If there is room for improvement in this area, then we are determined to address that, so that we can continue to build on our reputation as a responsible, world-class international finance centre.

“We are in the top tier of jurisdictions when it comes to not only saying that we follow international standards and having the best regulation, but actually living it day by day.”