Jersey To Launch New Consultation On Money Laundering

by Robert Lee, for LawAndTax-News.com, London

03 August 2007

Jersey's Council of Ministers is considering extending the tools and controls which exist to prevent Jersey from being used by money launderers or for financing terrorism.

The move is part of the preparation for next year’s review of Jersey’s performance as a financial centre to be conducted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Representatives of the IMF will visit Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man in 2008 and will assess how each complies with international standards in anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT).

The Council of Ministers has set up a Group, the AML/CFT Strategy Group, to provide a forum for the Island agencies represented on the group to liaise, discuss and develop coordinated strategies and policies to enhance Jersey’s capability to prevent and detect financial crime and terrorist financing. The AML/CFT Strategy Group will also oversee the preparations for the IMF visit.

The AML/CFT Strategy Group is chaired by the Chief Executive to the Council of Ministers and includes officers from the following government departments and other Island agencies: the Chief Minister’s Department, the Economic Development Department, the Law Officers’ Department, the Joint Financial Crimes Unit, the Jersey Financial Services Commission, and the Shadow Gambling Commission.

The Jersey government said that much preparatory work has already been completed and more is planned in the coming months. The AML/CFT Strategy Group, with the approval of the Council of Ministers, issued two consultation papers in May 2007 on proposals to update and extend the Island’s AML/CFT framework, taking steps to comply with the latest international standards. A third consultation paper was issued in July 2007, suggesting further changes to be made in Jersey to bring the Island’s regulations into line with international AML/CFT standards.

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