Moore Stephens, Clive Barton MBE and fellow director sanctioned by JFSC

On 29 Feb 2016 (posted March 9^th 2016) The Jersey Financial Services Commission (the “Commission”) issued a public statement in relation to Clive Neil Stewart Barton MBE (“Mr Barton”) and Kathleen Gillen (“Ms Gillen”) and the MS trust company* business pursuant to Article 25 of the FS(J)L.

Clive Neil Stewart Barton MBE (“Mr Barton”) was formerly the senior partner of Moore Stephens. Kathleen Gillen (“Ms Gillen”) was formerly the partner with primary responsibility for the day-to-day management of the MS trust company business.

The JFSC stated there was ineffective governance and the ineffective governance resulted in some instances of the MS trust company business failing to:

obtain adequate Customer Due Diligence, to identify and appropriately risk rate Politically Exposed Persons and perform enhanced due diligence as required;
understand and document the rationale for customer structures and to verify source of wealth and source of funds;
obtain tax advice and to make relevant disclosures to tax authorities;
ensure commission charged was in accordance with the agreed terms;
exercise adequate governance over customer structures;
maintain appropriate accounting records;
implement a robust annual review process;
comply with internal procedures;
recognise, document and manage conflicts of interest;
implement an effective complaint handling system;
report internal suspicions to the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO); and
have adequate regard for the compliance function thereby undermining its effectiveness.

From the issues summarised above, it follows that the MS trust company business breached Principles 2 and 3 of the Codes.

The MS trust company business failed to:

› have the highest regard for the interests of customers; and
› organise and control its affairs effectively for the proper performance of its business activities and demonstrate the existence of adequate risk management systems.

* Moore Stephens Jersey Partnership (“Moore Stephens”) and affiliated members, namely: First Island Computing Limited; First Island Investments Limited; First Island Management Limited; First Island Nominees Limited; First Island Pension Trustees Limited; First Island Secretaries Limited; First Island Services Limited; First Island Trustees Limited; First Rock Limited; Pennine Trustees Limited; and Snow Hill Trustees (Jersey) Limited (together, the “MS trust company business”)