Jersey cited as best practice example on Beneficial Ownership

Thursday 14 November 2019

Jersey's beneficial ownership regime has been cited as "best practice" by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

In its new guide on 'Best Practices on Beneficial Ownership for Legal Persons', the FATF refers to four examples from Jersey's regime.

The report identifies common challenges that countries face in ensuring beneficial owners of companies are identified, and suggests key features of an effective beneficial ownership transparency regime.

The Minister for External Relations, Senator Ian Gorst, commented: “Four examples from Jersey’s beneficial ownership regime were included in the FATF publication. The examples noted our use of regulated trust companies to incorporate most companies and the positive effect this has on the accuracy of Jersey’s register.

“They also noted the work of the Jersey Financial Services Commission in ensuring trust companies uphold the accuracy of beneficial ownership information, and the ease of access which the States of Jersey Police Joint Financial Crimes Unit has to beneficial ownership information, which can be shared with other police forces in the UK and further afield."

“The ongoing development of our beneficial ownership regime shows how seriously we take our responsibility to ensure criminals are denied access to Jersey’s financial system and are detected and brought to justice when they do gain access.”