The Law Commission published its Anti-money laundering: the SARs regime report on 18 June. The report reviews and makes recommendations for the improvement of the consent regime in Part 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) and Part 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The report identifies the high volume of low-quality suspicious […]

A former director of a trust company is suing the GFSC for £7.4million, claiming it allegedly breached his human rights during an investigation it carried out in to his conduct when working in financial services. Alan Chick was sanctioned by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission in 2018 because it found he had breached regulations people […]

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today fined Bank of Scotland (BOS) £45,500,000 for failures to disclose information about its suspicions that fraud may have occurred at the Reading-based Impaired Assets (IAR) team of Halifax Bank of Scotland. The FCA found that BOS failed to be open and cooperative and failed to disclose information appropriately […]

A Jersey trust firm [Volaw Trust and Corporate Services] will have to hand over documents relating to its dealings with a Norwegian oil baron as part of a probe into suspected fraud, after the Attorney General won a landmark battle. The decision – handed down this week by the Privy Council, Jersey’s highest court of […]

Speed read Trust and fiduciary services provider Estera has been hit with heavy penalties by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) after it failed to address anti-money laundering issues in its internal processes. The hefty fine of $500,000 (£400,000; €447,000) relates to the Jersey-headquartered firm’s failure to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) legislation […]

Mourant’s in Jersey have offered an excellent acronym to the lexicon of compliance language, namely “P.R.O.T.E.C.T against sanction”. Where a business has identified potential breaches of law, regulation or duties owed to third parties, there will be multiple considerations arising and priorities to address. the following key reminders should be considered when putting together a […]

In enforcement cases, the GFSC can seek to impose prohibitions on individuals to prevent them from continuing to work in the industry.  Often, such prohibitions have been time-limited, although the GFSC could also issue lifetime prohibitions where the circumstances warranted such an approach. In a recent enforcement case, however, the sanctions imposed on the respondent […]

The Commission is undertaking a short consultation on changes proposed to rules and guidance in the Handbook on Countering Financial Crime and Terrorist Financing (version issued on 1 March 2019). The Commission is inviting comments on Sections 2.8.1., 2.8.2., 4.8.3. and 7.12.2. of the Handbook, which should be submitted to amlcft@gfsc.gg, by no later than […]