Registry Supervision and what it means for you

Overview

Jersey is committed to upholding international standards on transparency, including the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 24. This requires jurisdictions to maintain adequate, accurate and up to date beneficial ownership information that can be accessed promptly by competent authorities.

To meet this standard, Jersey introduced the Financial Services (Disclosure and Provision of Information) (Jersey) Law 2020, together with associated Regulations and Orders (collectively, the Disclosure Law).

The Disclosure Law gives us the authority to collect, maintain and authenticate information about:

• significant persons
• beneficial owners (including controllers)
• members

To support ongoing compliance, we established the Registry Supervision Inspection Programme to proactively verify and authenticate information held on our registers.

Review cycle

The Registry Supervision inspection programme operates on an agreed, risk-based cycle to give regulated entities consistency and predictability.

This planned approach is supported by an important safeguard. If we identify a high-risk trigger event, such as receiving relevant intelligence or adverse vetting results, we can increase the frequency of inspection visits. This ensures that supervision activity remains responsive and proportionate, allowing risks to be addressed promptly as they emerge.

Trust company service provider size (entities)	Number to be visited annually	Visit frequency	Total number of entities selected per trust company service provider
More than 1,000	3 - 4	Every 2 years	60
500 - 1,000	8	Every 2 years	60
200 - 500	10	Every 3 years	50
100 - 200	10	Every 3 years	10
Fewer than 100	10	Every 5 years	10

Registry Supervision and regulatory supervision

In many jurisdictions, the financial crime regulator and the companies registry are separate bodies. In Jersey, both functions sit within our organisation, but the Registry Supervision Inspection Programme operates independently from our regulatory Supervision team.

Registry Supervision powers come from the Disclosure Law and the wider Registry Laws, including the Control of Borrowing (Jersey) Law 1947 and the Security Interests Laws. These laws underpin our role in maintaining accurate registers. See registry legislation (jerseyfsc.org) for more information.

By contrast, the Regulatory Supervision team oversees regulated businesses and individuals, and checks that they comply with financial crime legislation, Codes of Practice and the AML/CFT/CPF Handbook.

While the work of both teams is complementary, each operates under a different legal framework and has its own objectives.

What relevant entities must do

All companies and other legal persons (referred to collectively as relevant entities) must keep this information accurate, up to date, and provide verified information at incorporation and annually, covering:

• significant persons
• beneficial owners and controllers
• members

You must report any change, error or inaccuracy within 21 days of becoming aware of it. Failure to do so is a criminal offence and may lead to prosecution and late filing fees which increase monthly. Details of late filing fees are available on registry fees (jerseyfsc.org).

If a relevant entity does not comply with the requirement to keep this information up to date, the Registrar may issue a notice requiring it to do so. 

If the entity does not meet these requirements within three months of the date of the notice, it may be struck off the register or have its registration cancelled, and the entity will be dissolved.

Annual confirmation statement

Relevant entities must submit an annual confirmation statement between 1 January and 28 February each year, verifying that key details remain accurate.

If information is not kept up to date, the Registrar may issue a notice. This could ultimately lead to the entity being struck off or dissolved.

See annual confirmation (jerseyfsc.org) for more information.

Purpose of the Registry Supervision inspection programme

Our core objective is to ensure beneficial ownership and controller information is adequate, accurate, up to date and available to competent authorities when required.

Key tasks include:

• on-site or off-site meetings to authenticate submitted information
• data reviews to identify anomalies
• screening of Registry records
• monitoring public sources including court reports, the Jersey Gazette, Viscount publications and media reports

What this means for Jersey relevant entities

Registry Supervision inspection officers are responsible for authenticating the information submitted by relevant entities. This authentication confirms that individuals listed as beneficial owners, controllers or significant persons are genuinely who they claim to be.

This can be achieved by:

• reviewing original documents
• reviewing additional or supporting documentation
• making enquiries about the legal person and its ownership

This process helps ensure that the information we hold is accurate, reliable and aligned with international standards.

What inspections involve

Local businesses

Visits are arranged in advance and planned around your day to day operations where possible. If needed, visits can be rearranged.

Regulated sector

Inspections are desk based, and trust company service providers (TCSPs) submit documents electronically. We give three months’ notice of an inspection.

We select a risk based sample of administered entities proportionate to the provider’s size and complexity. We have recently reduced the sample size to allow for more focused and in depth testing.

During inspections, we may ask TCSPs to demonstrate application of the Three Tier Test to evidence understanding of ownership and control structures.

Our Registry and Supervision teams coordinate where a TCSP is also undergoing a broader Supervision examination to ensure efficiency and minimise disruption.

Most supervision examinations will include a Registry review component.

Reliance on exemptions

Exemptions available under the AML/CFT/CPF Handbook and Money Laundering Order (MLO) may also be used for Registry inspections.

When relying on an exemption, TCSPs must clearly specify and confirm to the inspection team which exemption has been applied.

Common exemptions include:

• Article 17(b) – clients using certain regulated investment or fund services
• Article 18(3) – wholly owned subsidiary of a listed entity
• Article 18(4) – director or employee of a listed entity

Registered offices at private residences

Where a registered office is a private home, the nominated person, director or secretary may attend our office with documentation.

Information and documentation to be reviewed and authenticated

Pursuant to the Disclosure Law, the Registry Supervision team has the power to require a relevant entity to authenticate any information or document provided under the Disclosure Law in any manner we reasonably determine.

This is a wide remit and, in addition to beneficial owner and significant person information, can include details of the nominated person, nominee shareholders, nominee directors and anything that may be included in the annual confirmation statement.

To check the accuracy of this information, Registry Supervision inspection officers may ask for supporting documentation. This may include:

• certified ID and address verification
• registers of directors, secretaries and members
• statutory information for corporates
• structure charts showing ownership and control
• declarations of trust

We may also cross-check information already held on our registers.

Authentication exemption (certain circumstances only)

Under the Disclosure Law, relevant entities must confirm the name and address of each member who holds 1% or more (by nominal value or number, as applicable) of the issued shares of a class in their annual confirmation statement. The Registry Supervision inspection team may also ask you to authenticate this information. The Disclosure Law allows the team to request authentication in any manner reasonably determined.

In practice, individuals holding less than 25% of the shares, voting rights or appointment rights are unlikely to have significant influence or control over an entity.

To align the Disclosure Law 1% or more membership authentication threshold with our Handbook and FATF standards, we will not normally ask you to authenticate information or documents for members holding below 25% of the issued shares of a class.

This exemption does not apply where we consider the entity to present a higher risk. This may include, but is not limited to, cases where:

• the entity is connected to a higher-risk jurisdiction
• beneficial ownership and control, or any minority shareholders, connected to a higher-risk jurisdiction
• activities captured under the Sound Business Policy
• credible intelligence from sources indicates that the relevant entity is exposed to other higher risks
• politically exposed persons (PEP) or PEP connections are involved

For clarity:

• verified information must still be provided as required by the Disclosure Law
• the exemption does not apply to significant persons
• the Registry retains full powers to request information where necessary

After the inspection

• any issues identified will be set out in a findings letter
• entities have 21 days to complete remediation
• failure to remediate may result in further correspondence, financial penalties, or referral to the Attorney General for criminal prosecution

Testing of the Obliged Entity Beneficial Owner Register (OEBO)

On 11 September 2024, the States Assembly approved an amendment to the Financial Services (Disclosure and Provision of Information) (Jersey) Law (DPI Law) to reflect FATF guidance.

The amendment introduces obligations for obliged entities or their representatives. In the law, these are referred to as ‘relevant persons’. This may include an anti money laundering service provider or someone appointed to help meet customer due diligence obligations under the MLO.

As part of our ongoing supervision activity, the Registry Supervision team will be testing compliance with the use of the OEBO register by obliged entities. This testing ensures that all searches undertaken on the register are being completed for legitimate Customer Due Diligence (CDD) purposes in accordance with the MLO.

Advance notice of visit

Entities will receive six weeks’ notice of our intended visit. The notice will outline:

• the date(s) of the onsite inspection
• the scope of the review
• the information required in advance
• duration of visit

OEBO inspections will be conducted separately from our standard company inspections.

However, if we are already scheduled to visit an entity for another purpose, we will incorporate the OEBO inspection into that visit.

If we identify that an obliged entity is undertaking excessive or unusual registry searches, we may arrange an ad hoc OEBO inspection. In such cases, we will let the obliged entity know in advance of our intended visit.

What you can expect

During the onsite visit, we will:

• access the audit logs of registry searches undertaken by your organisation
• select a sample comprising 10% of all searches your organisation has carried out
• review the purpose of each search in the sample
• request evidence to support the legitimacy of each selected search

Examples of evidence we may request include:

• prospective client onboarding documents
• successful client onboarding documentation
• internal CDD records demonstrating the rationale for the search

These checks help us verify that registry access is being used appropriately and in line with the MLO.

What you need to provide

Ahead of and during the inspection, obliged entities should be prepared to provide:

• evidence supporting the purpose of the searches selected for review
• internal policies, procedures or guidance relating to registry access and use
• a list of all staff members with registry access
• any internal logs your organisation maintains relating to registry use
• any additional documents required to confirm compliance with the MLO

Carrying out registry searches for purposes other than completing CDD in accordance with the MLO is a breach of the law. Such breaches will be referred to the Attorney General for prosecution.