General

The Commission is today issuing Instruction No. 01/2020 for Specified Businesses, replacing and repealing Instruction No. 03/2019 for Specified Businesses issued on 29 November 2019. Changes since Instruction No. 03/2019 include the addition of Albania, Barbados, Jamaica, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nicaragua and Uganda, and the removal of Trinidad and Tobago. Further details in respect of these...

As part of its three-year business plan, the Commission is undertaking a series of technology-based projects in collaboration with academics from University College London (UCL) and regulatory and data AI start-up, Regul-AI-tion. In particular, these projects are focused in the areas of SupTech (Supervisory Technology) and RegTech (Regulatory Technology), both of which are sub-sets of the wider...

Fourth Quarter 2019 Investment Funds The net asset value of total funds under management and administration has decreased in Sterling terms during the last quarter by £17.7 billion (-6.2%) to £268.3 billion. Over the past year, total net asset values decreased by £13.3 billion (-4.7%). Open-ended Schemes Within these totals, Guernsey domiciled open-ended funds decreased over the quarter by £1.9...

The Commission is today issuing final rules and guidance under the Regulation of Fiduciaries, Administration Businesses and Company Directors, etc (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2000 (the "Fiduciaries Law") which will ensure that the Bailiwick’s regulatory regime continues to be compliant with international standards and appropriate for the Guernsey market. The new Fiduciary Rules and Guidance will...

On 10 & 11 February 2020 representatives of the Policy & Resources Committee, the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (“the Commission”) and the Financial Intelligence Service gave presentations on the Bailiwick’s National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing risks ("the NRA"). The Commission’s presentation covered the main money laundering and terrorist financing risks...

The Guernsey Financial Services Commission ("GFSC") was pleased to note the recent political agreement reached between the European Council and the European Parliament on an EU-wide classification system, or "Taxonomy", which will provide businesses and investors with a common language to identify what economic activities can be considered environmentally sustainable. The detailed criteria...

The Commission is pleased to announce that, following a comprehensive recruitment process, Charisma Lyall has been appointed as the Commission’s next General Counsel. Charisma will be replacing Philip Nicol-Gent who will be returning to the UK later this year having worked in the island for the past twenty years. Philip has been the Commission’s General Counsel for six and a half years and prior...

Please be advised, that with effect from January 2020, the Commission will be introducing exit interviews for individuals who held the position of MLRO and/or MLCO with a Bank or Fiduciary firm. This is a six month pilot initiative, and following our risk based approach, will apply only to individuals who have departed from a MLRO or MLCO position at a Fiduciary or Bank Licensee since the start of...

Form upgrades Further to our previous news article regarding the forthcoming changes to the forms on the OS and PQ Portals, the following forms are now available in the new format: 126a - Fiduciary - Pension Scheme or Gratuity Scheme Quarterly Return 132 - Insurance Manager Annual Return 145 - Investment Quarterly Return 200 - Other Notification 220 – Outsourcing 226 - Surrender Registration It...