Jersey is to be assessed by MONEYVAL (a body of the Council of Europe) in respect of the Island’s compliance with international Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) standards, set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Most recently, the MONEYVAL plenary (December 2013) considered the Island’s progress against the recommendations contained […]

Jersey has become the first jurisdiction in the world to successfully establish a regulator-approved Bitcoin investment fund, and has set out rules on the taxation of cryptocurrencies. The open-ended fund is due to launch on August 1, 2014. Jersey’s Comptroller of Taxes has stated that Jersey’s income tax provisions on foreign exchange activities will apply […]

Following the publication by the Financial Action Task Force of two statements identifying jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) regimes HM Treasury has published an advisory notice advising firms to: consider certain specified jurisdictions as high risk for the purposes of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007; and take appropriate […]

Bitcoin-friendly businesses that were eyeing European locations as regulation-free environments for virtual currencies may need to reconsider as AML – CTF and related KYC (CDD) concerns are at the fore there as well as in the U.S. On Friday, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published an opinion recommending both that banks avoid most bitcoin-friendly customers […]

  1. NEW UK TRANSPARENCY LAWS i. New laws announced in the Queen’s Speech revealed the British Government’s intention to fight corruption by establishing a register of company beneficial ownership. The announcement follows the Government’s Response to the BIS Consultation, ‘Transparency and Trust’, which confirmed the Government’s intent to legislate for such a registry (see […]

To bring the Handbook for Estate Agents and High Value Dealers up to date with legislative requirements consequential to changes to the Money Laundering Order (excluding Money Laundering (Amendment No. 6) (Jersey) Order 2013) and other relevant legislation, as well as other relevant changes made to the Handbook for Financial Services Business Regulated under the […]

In a short period of time, virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin, have developed into a powerful payment method with ever growing global acceptance. Virtual currencies offer an innovative, cheap and flexible method of payment. At the same time, the unique and often unfamiliar business model of virtual currencies poses a challenge to regulators around the […]

The Commission wishes to draw licensees’ attention to the current military action in Iraq and the associated funding of the extremist insurgency group, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (“ISIS”). Reports indicate that in addition to private donations and traditional criminal activity in that region such as robbery and extortion, ISIS has been funding […]