IMF Assessment of the Supervision and Regulation of the Financial Sector

The IMF has today published six reports arising from its evaluations in March and May 2010 of the Bailiwick’s financial supervision and criminal justice frameworks.  The reports commend Guernsey as having financial sector regulation and supervision of a high standard across all sectors, and a legal framework which provides a sound basis for an effective AML/CFT regime, with preventive measures being largely in line with the FATF Recommendations. 

The evaluations were part of the IMF’s global Financial Stability Assessment Program.  The Bailiwick was assessed as having a high level of compliance with the international standards against which the Bailiwick was judged – the 25 Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision; the 28 Insurance Core Principles of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors; and the Financial Action Task Force 40 Recommendations on money laundering and 9 Special Recommendations on terrorist financing.  The financial stability of the finance sector was also assessed by evaluation of the vulnerabilities of the banking and insurance industries by stress tests.

Nik van Leuven, Director General of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, said:

 “We are pleased with the IMF’s ratings of our framework and its conclusions on the quality of our supervision.  Guernsey, like Jersey and the Isle of Man, has emerged well from the IMF’s evaluations of our financial supervision and criminal justice frameworks.  It is apparent that Guernsey’s finance sector is robust.  The quality of the standards which apply to supervised firms in Guernsey, the effectiveness of our supervision and the reality of what firms do in practice reflect the importance and commitment the Bailiwick attaches to effective supervision, and deterring economic criminals, money launderers and terrorist financiers.  

It is particularly pleasing that the IMF’s evaluations reflected the experience of supervision, firms and markets in the economic and financial crisis.  That experience has made the IMF’s comments and recommendations especially valuable as a basis to further develop our risk-based approach to supervision in the years to come.”

The reports are available using the following links:

• Financial System Stability Assessment
• FSAP-Insurance Supervision Report (Detailed Assessment of Observance on Insurance Core Principles)
• FSAP-Banking Supervision Report (Detailed Assessment of Observance on Basel Core Principles)
• FSAP-Technical Note on Stress Testing: Banking and Insurance
• Detailed Assessment Report on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism
• Report on Observance of Standards and Codes-FATF Recommendations for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism