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A former financial adviser who “went from earning £50,000 to £60,000 a year to going cap in hand to Social Security” after being reprimanded by the industry watchdog eight years ago says the reasons remain a mystery to him today.
Jon Hackwood, a former director of Sycamore Governance and Compliance, was banned from working as a “principal person” in the sector in 2016 following what he described as an “intense” and “very intimidating” six-hour interrogation in a “small room”.
His sanction was communicated in a public statement posted on the JFSC website which Mr Hackwood, who was never convicted or accused of any crime, said made it exceptionally difficult for him to find work afterwards.
But while the decision which took the former director to the brink of financial ruin was made public by the JFSC, its reasoning was not.
Mr Hackwood is one of a number of individuals to have levelled criticism at the level of transparency and accountability shown by the Jersey Financial Services Commission in an investigation published by Express’s sister publication, the JEP, today.
Pictured: The front page of today's JEP asks: "Is the JFSC choking the golden goose?".
Other critics have drawn attention to the fact that there is no formal process for appealing public statements, other than via the Royal Court, and that the JFSC is not covered by the island’s Freedom of Information Law, which would enable the public to scrutinise its decision-making processes, sanctions, and spending.
Among the figures the watchdog has declined to provide were how many ‘closed-door’ agreements had been reached with individuals to leave the industry, with the threat of a public statement going live should the regulator’s instruction be defied.
The JFSC told the JEP it would not comment on individual cases but said it was “scrutinised both locally and internationally”, most recently by MONEYVAL, which provided a positive assessment of the island’s industry.
The regulator described public statements as “an essential and effective tool in fighting financial crime”, adding that their use was endorsed by MONEYVAL, and went on to describe its enforcement team as acting “firmly but fairly”.
You can read the full investigation in today's JEP.
Islanders are being asked to share their views on the JFSC HERE.
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