General

The world’s circumstances have changed fundamentally with the arrival of COVID-19 which has become a major threat to global wellbeing and economic prosperity. The extraordinary measures taken by governments around the world in response to the threat posed by COVID-19, have inevitably and significantly altered any forward-looking statements and hence, in publishing its 2019 annual report today, the...

The Financial Action Task Force ("FATF") has released a guidance paper regarding COVID-19-related money laundering and terrorist financing risks, which can be accessed directly on the FATF website. This paper and other FATF guidance can be found within the FATF Guidance section of the Commission's Legislation and Guidance page.

The Financial Services Commission (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 1987 (the “Financial Services Commission Law”) The Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 1987 (the “POI Law”) The Insurance Managers and Insurance Intermediaries (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2002 (the “IMII Law”) The Insurance Business (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2002 (the “Insurance Law”) The Regulation of Fiduciaries...

In response to operational adaptation that firms are undergoing as a result of restrictions imposed to tackle the spread of Covid-19, the Commission has decided to ease some of the timeframes in the Handbook rules. Specifically, those timeframes relating to the approval of business risk assessments and policies and procedures and for reviews of existing customers have been put back. The changes...

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 29 November 2019) to take into account the Bailiwick of Guernsey’s National Risk Assessment (“NRA”) on money laundering (“ML”) and the financing of terrorism (“FT”) which was published in January 2020. It is...

The Commission has received a number of enquiries from firms whose staff are working from home and are unable to verify individuals on a face-to-face basis through physical meetings or where the individual has been unable to provide to the firm a certified copy of their identification data. Rule 5.27 of the Handbook permits a firm to use electronic verification to verify, in whole or in part, the...

The Commission has published, on the consumer pages of its website, advice for consumers on coronavirus-related fraud attempts. This advice aims to provide easily accessible and clear information to help people living in the Bailiwick protect themselves from these latest types of fraud and explains what to do if they fall victim to a fraud or attempted fraud. The advice can be found on the...

Whilst Many Licensees are Working From Home, with reduced IT access, does the Commission still require signed application forms? The Commission has received a number of enquiries from licensees who are working, with limited IT capacity, from home. Application forms require a ‘wet signature’. Where licensee/applicants are finding this impossible, due to the lack of access to a printer/scanner, the...

The Commission remains conscious of the operational issues being experienced by firms as they continue in their transition to an environment in which the majority, if not all, staff will be working from home. The Commission also acknowledges, and appreciates, the steps taken by these firms to continue to provide uninterrupted services to their customers and clients, albeit sometimes through...