The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) has welcomed the Group of International Finance Centre Supervisors' (GIFCS) new benchmark for the regulation of trust and corporate service providers (TCSPs).
The Standard on the Regulation of Trust and Corporate Service Providers, the first of its type, introduces a new minimum benchmark for businesses administering international trusts and companies to follow. The standard is intended to promote and reinforce high standards in the sector among its membership, many of whom already regulate TCSP activity.
The standard addresses matters of both prudential and conduct regulation, and is designed to complement the international supervisory standards of the Basel Committee, IOSCO and IAIS.
Guernsey has been a champion of this new approach which has seen the GIFCS working group, which developed the new standard, being chaired by the GFSC's General Counsel, Philip Nicol-Gent.
Mr Nicol-Gent said "This is an extremely important area and considerable effort has been made by everyone involved to develop a proportionate and meaningful standard to which all jurisdictions can work towards. By adopting a common standard, jurisdictions will be able to more effectively demonstrate that their trusts and companies are being used for proper purposes. It will also aid the international fight against terrorist financing and money laundering".
Guernsey's TCSPs sector already operates to high standards and over the next 12 months the GFSC will undertake an analysis of the regulatory regime to determine whether small adjustments may be required in order to underpin the new standard. Any proposed changes will then be incorporated into the Commission's work on revisions to legislation which it is currently taking forward on a collaborative basis with both government and industry.
For more information about Guernsey's finance industry please visit www.guernseyfinance.com.
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