Chief Minister: "I am not prepared to panic"

Thursday 02 February 2017

Jersey's Chief Minister has warned of "turbulent" times ahead for the financial services industry and called on members of the sector to "roll up [their] sleeves" and work together to meet the challenges ahead.

Senator Ian Gorst has recently taken on day-to-day responsibility for the finance industry, and used a keynote speech - at the launch of the JFSC's business plan for 2017 - to issue a rallying call to the sector.

Yesterday the JFSC presented its Business Plan for 2017 to around 300 industry members at the Hotel de France; Senator Gorst stressed his personal commitment to the industry:

"I and not prepared to panic; nor is your regulator, nor is your industry body. But if we roll our sleeves up, if we work work together, we can navigate through the challenges and competition and the changing standards that we face, to deliver a stronger financial services industry in our community, and that is important as it allows us to deliver a social policy meeting the needs of every member of our community...So let's leave here this morning determined to roll up our sleeves, to work together to meet the challenges we face because I believe in your industry, I believe in Jersey, and so should all of us."

Delighted to have Chief Minister @Ian_Gorst to close our @JerseyFSC 2017 Business Plan presentation. pic.twitter.com/YIta50lTAe

— JerseyFSC (@JerseyFSC) February 1, 2017

His comments came after Jersey's financial services regulator had set out its plans for this year, with beefing up its protection against cyber-crime high on the agenda.

The Jersey Financial Services Commission also intends to improve the Island's register of the beneficial owners of companies, amid intense scrutiny of the amount of information Jersey makes available to law enforcement agencies.

2017 is also intended to be the year that the JFSC returns to a balanced budget, after returning a small deficit in each of the previous couple of years.

The JFSC's Chairman, Lord Eatwell, opened the short conference: 

"Let’s not beat about the bush, this jurisdiction is a destination of choice for investors, not a destination of necessity. Firms large and small must operate in or through London and New York. They do not have the same compulsion to operate in Jersey. 

"Two dominant factors attract investors to Jersey: the efficiency of the financial services provided here, and the reputation of the Island for conducting business in a responsible manner."

"Responsible behaviour is the foundation of trust, the glue that binds successful financial entities together.

"The JFSC cannot and should not be looking over the shoulder of every financial transaction like some sort of financial big brother."

Encouraging industry members to trade responsibility was a key point JFSC representatives were keen to make, following on from their recent £35,000 public information campaign on mis-selling, in partnership with the Personal Finance Society, who contributed just under half the cost. 

JFSC Director of Policy Mike Jones outlined the priority areas for the year ahead including enhancing the Registry systems and Beneficial Ownership Register, developing a new website and other digital channels, improving supervisory processes, expanding its financial education outreach programme, and further advancing its cyber-security measures. 

After two years of running small deficits the JFSC also committed to a return to a balanced budget in 2017, forecasting a small surplus of £110,000 having taken a little under £12m in regulatory fees, and £5m in registry fees. Director General John Harris argued that fees had been too low in the past, and the decision had been taken to push them up so that the JFSC could get back into the black.  

In answer to a question the the audience, Mr Harris said the commission would be spending at least £200,000 more on IT systems, partly to combat cyber crime, and that even more funding would be drawn from finding efficiencies elsewhere in the IT budget.