The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) has appointed Michael Blair QC as President of its panel of Senior Decision Makers, which has recently been established to sit and determine the Commission’s major enforcement cases. Michael is a specialist in financial services and financial services regulation. He joined 3VB Chambers in 2000, after serving as General […]

Island stock exchange fined £190000 but no individuals punished The Financial Services Commission (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 1987, as amended (“The Financial Services Commission Law”) , The Channel Islands Stock Exchange, LBG. 1. The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (the “Commission”) is established pursuant to the terms of the Financial Services Commission (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, […]

The Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX) has been fined £190,000 by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC).The fine relates to “possible market manipulation” and “irregular trading” in Arch Cru Funds. The investments have been wound up but were listed on the exchange until 2009. In February, Peter Harwood, Guernsey’s Chief Minister and the CISX director […]

Establishing Risk Appetite a) Undertaking a business risk assessment allows the business to formulate its “risk appetite”. b) The term “risk appetite” refers to a business’ overall willingness or acceptance threshold for new business and the associated financial crime risks that will need to be mitigated. c) A business should be able to formulate a […]

The GFSC have issued a FAQ to answer the following question We have discovered that we have not undertaken CDD in compliance with the requirements of the Regulations and/or rules in the Handbook.  We are reluctant to approach the customer and  Would like an exemption from having to comply with these requirements. GFSC response The […]

On the 15th sept the GFSC advised that some amendments by the Council of the European Union to the sanctions measures in place regarding the Territorial Integrity etc. of the Ukraine and the Russian Federation have been published today with immediate effect. These amendments, which have direct effect in the Bailiwick, are as follows; Territorial Integrity […]

The instruction has been issued as a result of amendments made to the legislation surrounding the reporting of suspicion. The existing Handbooks are in the course of being reviewed and therefore to minimise the impact, and to avoid reprinting the full Handbook while the development continues, replacement pages of the Handbook for Financial Services Businesses […]

The Commission has today published an additional FAQ under the FC&A tab regarding the certification of copy documentation requirements and best practice. The FAQ can be found at the top of the Financial Crime Supervision and Policy Division’s FAQ page here. http://bit.ly/1xboYiX AND BELOW Certification of Copy Documentation Requirements and Best Practice Introduction Rule 100 of the FSB […]