IMF ranks Jersey as one of the best jurisdictions globally

News - Tax

Tuesday, 22 September 2009 09:44

Jersey Finance has welcomed the comprehensive endorsement Jersey’s finance industry has obtained from the IMF in its latest review, which has praised Jersey’s high standards of regulation and supervision.

The report, the Financial System Stability Assessment Update (FSSA), published on 14 September, states that Jersey is in the ‘top division’ of international finance centres, including those in the G20 and EU, and that, where it is possible to make comparisons with other jurisdictions, Jerseys is classed as being compliant or largely compliant with 44 of the 49 general FATF recommendations, compared to, for example, the United Kingdom (36) and Switzerland (33).

It states that Jersey’s laws and regulations have been amended to enhance compliance with international standards and to keep pace with financial sector developments, and confirms that Jersey’s banking system is resilient to a range of shocks and that the financial soundness indicators for banks are satisfactory.
The Jersey Financial Services Commission is also described as conducting its functions in ‘a transparent and accountable manner’ whilst anti-money laundering rules and measures to counter terrorist financing are described as ‘comprehensive’ and ‘robust’.

Geoff Cook, chief executive, Jersey Finance, comments: “The IMF has given Jersey’s finance industry a ringing endorsement for the quality of its regulation and legislation, the transparency of its regulatory processes and the robustness and resilience of its banking system.”

In addition, the IMF review has reaffirmed a number of features of Jersey’s regulatory and supervisory regime, referring to Jersey as one of the pioneers of the Tax Information Exchange Agreements. It highlights that Jersey’s financial institutions and trust company businesses are well supervised to counter terrorist financing and money laundering and that Jersey’s finance industry has continued to maintain open and co-operative relationships with regulatory authorities overseas.

The IMF also recognises that Jersey has ‘no statutory banking secrecy provision’ and that, ‘with mandatory registration with the Registrar of Companies, Jersey’s finance industry has measures in place to obtain, maintain, and verify beneficial ownership information for companies’. Furthermore, ‘the establishment of trusts are significant activities in Jersey and are subject to strong AML/CFT requirements’, recognising that Jersey’s finance industry has always been able to identify the true beneficial owners of all entities, which includes trusts, limited companies, partnerships and legal arrangements formed in the jurisdiction.