Contributing internationally
Although a significant proportion of our international engagement was curtailed by the pandemic, JFSC staff still represented the organisation and the Island on the global stage, albeit virtually.
Our Director General, Martin Moloney, continued his work with the International Organisation of Securities Commissions on exchange traded funds and took part in numerous international webinars, discussing the risks arising from Covid-19.
Our Chief Adviser of Financial Crime, Hamish Armstrong, co-led a FATF project to develop a global approach to risk-based supervision. This entailed working with supervisors from around the world to understand their requirements and formulate guidance to support them. Despite the pandemic, this guidance was still published on time in March 2021. As part of this work with FATF, Hamish Armstrong also co-chaired an online forum attended by more than 700 supervisors in May and provided content for their online training initiative, launched in 2020.
On another note, we were delighted that two further members of our staff completed their FATF training and are now qualified FATF assessors. Our three assessors will participate respectively in the 2021 evaluations of Liechtenstein, France and Croatia.
On behalf of the JFSC, Hamish Armstrong also continued to actively engage with MONEYVAL, by virtually attending working group meetings and plenaries, providing comments, on behalf of Jersey, on evaluations of Georgia and Slovakia, acting as independent reviewer of the Croatia assessment and technical adviser on the follow-up report for Malta.
A critical component of our enforcement work and investigations is collaborating effectively with regulators and law enforcement agencies in other jurisdictions. In 2020, we received double the number of requests from overseas counterparts for assistance with their investigations, compared to the previous year. We also attended two Crown Dependencies enforcement meetings.
Registry
Neither our international registry engagement nor our ambitious digital programme stopped because of Covid-19. Registrar Julian Lamb upheld his commitments virtually as a member of various Boards, including the International Association of Commercial Administrators (IACA) and the European Business Registry Association (EBRA). In particular, he had responsibility for leading the beneficial ownership and control working group for Europe.
Closer to home, we again achieved a positive review of our central registers by the UK and Jersey Governments. This recognises that our registers are accurate, timely and adequate, which satisfies the Exchange of Notes signed in 2016 (the Notes). By complying with the requirements of the Notes we are upholding our exemplary standards on corporate transparency.
In July, we supported the Government to introduce a statutory regime to allow non-Jersey limited partnerships to migrate into Jersey.
Evolving our regulatory framework for sustainable finance
We are committed to maintaining high regulatory standards and constantly monitor domestic and international developments. Over recent years, we have seen a number of ambitious changes to sustainable finance regulation globally, and in particular across the European Union. In June, we began consulting with Industry on our proposals to enhance various codes of practice and the Jersey Private Fund Guide to make it clear what requirements there are for sustainable finance In the Island and to improve consumer protection. This work is in response to growing international concern about businesses marketing investments that appear more environmentally and socially focused than they really are, and changes to international regulation. We will continue with this work in 2021.
Collaborating on innovation
Scanning the digital horizon
As a result of international developments relating to virtual assets and their service providers, we reviewed the regulatory landscape in 2020 to enable us to produce and develop a concise regime for these activities. In September, we were engaged by the Government of Jersey to join a working group to consider next steps in this space, which will come to fruition in 2021.
In July, we published our report into the viability of a shared ‘know your customer’ utility and indicated our support to the financial services industry developing such a tool in the Island. We were hugely grateful to the broad range of Industry representatives who gave their time and ideas to contribute to this work and we are enthusiastic about working with Industry to help them develop any potential utility in the future, while remaining committed to high standards of compliance outcomes to maintain Jersey’s strong international reputation.
Supporting businesses with FinTech
With businesses working from home in 2020, we saw a distinct move towards increased digitisation and automation. FinTech enquiries to our Innovation Hub increased by nearly a quarter, with us helping 74 businesses with their queries about developing innovation, navigating Jersey’s regulatory regime, and leveraging technology to meet their regulatory obligations.
Domestically, even though we could not uphold our commitment to attend Digital Jersey’s Hub in person on a monthly basis due to Covid-19 restrictions, we remained committed to supporting members via video calls and taking part in the first virtual Tech Week.
Internationally, we remained a committed member of the Global Financial Innovation Network and supported the launch of the 2020 cross-border application process. This created an environment for businesses to trial their innovative products and services in multiple jurisdictions. We did this alongside more than 20 other regulators across five continents.