Jersey Responds to Edwards Report

Tax-news.com

22 November 1999

The report published last week by the Jersey States' task force into the Edwards Report includes a number of recommendations that will affect the island's offshore sector, including a new depositors' protection scheme. The scheme will provide compensation to investors in the event of a major collapse by a Jersey-based bank or finance company, with the burden being spread across industry members.

In addition to the depositors' protection scheme, the Task Force report also recommended:

• A financial ombudsman should be established;
• The Jersey Financial Services Commission should be free of Government control;
• A new financial crimes unit should be established; and
• New bankruptcy laws should be introduced to allow financially troubled companies to keep operating by going into administration.

The Task Force report rejected recommended changes to Jersey's company reporting requirements and trust laws on the grounds that they are unnecessary.

Commenting on the Task Force report, Jersey Senator Pierre Horsfall said "the Edwards Report has endorsed the fact that Jersey is a major player on the international finance stage where high quality business is independently regulated to international standards. One year on Jersey has emerged from the Edwards Report better placed than ever before to consolidated our position as a leading international finance centre."

It is expected that Guernsey will also announce its response to the Edwards Report by December. The head of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission confirmed that Guernsey's response is unlikely to be very different from Jersey's, and that a deposit protection scheme and ombudsman are also being looked into for Guernsey.

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