Jersey top of the league

Jersey

According to regulatory body the IMF (International Monetary Fund), Jersey has shown itself to be the most competent out of 120 jurisdictions in terms of meeting financial guidelines and practices.

The inspections by the IMF examine the steps and measures offshore financial centres take to control negative factors such as money laundering and criminal bank-rolling. Upon their visit to Jersey it was discovered that the island had successfully implemented 44 out of 49 steps previously set out by the Financial Action Task Force.

The IMF report praised Jersey: “The Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC) operates with considerable independence as well as accountability, and has broadly adequate resources. Financial sector regulation and supervision are of a high standard, and processes and resourcing have been significantly enhanced since a 2003 assessment.”

The guidelines that were set out included recommendations for the use of depositor’s protection schemes and the report stated that Jersey utilised the "usefulness of a dedicated bank insolvency regime".

The news of such high esteem from the IMF was met with delight and pride from the chief minister of Jersey, Terry Le Sueur: “This is an excellent outcome, and is tremendously important for Jersey, not only does it demonstrate our high degree of compliance with international standards, it also provides a strong base from which to negotiate with our European neighbours.”

He also added that they will build upon this praise to implement even more positive practices: “The IMF makes recommendations to further improve our regulations. The island's authorities will publish an action plan setting out how we intend to deal with these points. We welcome these recommendations as they will help to further strengthen our regulatory, supervisory, anti-money-laundering and combating the financing of terrorism arrangements."