A near-decade long process sparked by past failures at a Guernsey Trust company will come to an end, after the current directors of the firm decided they won’t appeal the latest Court decision.
Former senior staff at Weighbridge Trust Limited were found guilty of breaches under the Enforcement Powers Law, following inspections by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission in 2015 and 2017.
Having appointed new directors, the firm had challenged the content of a statement proposed to be published by the GFSC – which Weighbridge said put the failures in a more serious light that had previously been agreed.
In a statement on its own website, Weighbridge Trust Limited said it is now standing down.
The firm made clear that while past failings were never disputed, and the current directors have been credited by the GFSC and the courts for their actions in the years since, it was the content of the statement proposed to be published by the GFSC that it was unhappy with.
Weighbridge Trust said it took the matter to the Royal Court to ensure that public interest was served. While that court action was successful, the GFSC appealed and the decision was overturned meaning the statement was allowed to be published.
Weighbridge Trust has now said it welcomes guidances that the Court of Appeal has given to the GFSC and the financial services industry, and it is “satisfied that the public interest has been better served” through this outcome, without taking the matter further.
Weighbridge Trust Limited’s statement in full:
“Weighbridge Trust Limited (WTL) has decided not to appeal the Court of Appeal’s recent judgment (which reinstated the Commission’s decision to impose a public statement) and welcomes the conclusion of this long running process in relation to the historic management of WTL to 2017.
“As acknowledged by the Commission, the Royal Court and the Court of Appeal, the current directors of WTL did not dispute the historic failings found by the Commission with respect to the former controller/director, Mr William Stephen Cairns, and others dating as far back as 1990.
“In doing so, the subsequent and current directors were credited for their efforts in proactively identifying, and informing of, the issues giving rise to the contravening conduct of the former directors and for their extensive remediation of the relevant structures which included engaging with appropriate third-party advisors.
“As the Commission had agreed the content of a public statement with Mr Cairns as part of his earlier settlement of the enforcement process, that statement, in WTL’s view, gave rise to an impression that the former directors’ contravening conduct was less serious than the conduct that was proposed to be published in the public statement with respect to WTL. Given such, WTL reluctantly appealed to the Royal Court to seek to ensure that the public interest was served to properly highlight the contravening conduct of the former directors. Whilst WTL was successful before the Royal Court, the Court of Appeal overruled that decision and reinstated the Commission’s proposed public statement. However, the judgments of both the Royal Court, and now the Court of Appeal, have adequately highlighted WTL’s concerns and the seriousness of the contravening conduct. WTL also welcomes the guidance provided by the Court of Appeal to the Commission, and the financial services industry, as to the correct test for unreasonableness with respect to appeals under section 106(3)(b) of the Financial Services Business (Enforcement Powers) (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2020.
“Given the above, WTL is satisfied that the public interest has been better served.”
