The review has seen the GFSC redraft the anti-money laundering guidance notes for the finance industry from top to bottom, with the proposed changes intended to clarify the existing laws while reducing paperwork and bureaucracy, and also encouraging finance industry participants to take a more active role in combating financial crime and terrorist financing.

Importantly, the revised rules would also bring Gibraltar into compliance with the third money laundering directive, which comes into force next year, and the latest Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations.

The finance industry is being asked to contribute to the review process by the regulator, as part of a consultation lasting until January 1, 2007.

Commenting on the review, Marcus Killick, Gibraltar’s Financial Services Commissioner, told the Gibraltar Chronicle that there is a need to move away from a “tick and bash” approach to anti-money laundering towards a more proactive strategy that anticipates new trends, as criminals use ever more sophisticated methods and complex transactions to cover their tracks.

“It’s like a game of chess. We have to think ahead and anticipate what they are going to be doing in two moves' time," he told the paper.